Abstract
Low-cost sensors are revolutionizing air pollution monitoring by providing real-time, highly localized air quality information. The relatively low-cost nature of these devices has made them accessible to the broader public. Although there have been several fitness-of-purpose appraisals of the various sensors on the market, little is known about what drives sensor usage and how the public interpret the data from their sensors. This article attempts to answer these questions by analyzing the key themes discussed in the user reviews of low-cost sensors on Amazon. The themes and use cases identified have the potential to spur interventions to support communities of sensor users and inform the development of actionable data-visualization strategies with the measurements from such instruments, as well as drive appropriate ‘fitness-of-purpose’ appraisals of such devices.
Highlights
To address these research needs, this study analyzes product review comments on Amazon for 94 low-cost air quality monitors measuring a range of different pollutants: formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs or VOCs), particulate matter: PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10, carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), and ozone (O3 ), as well as a combined estimate of different pollutants in the form of an air quality index (AQI), in the price range of USD 13.97–USD 329, to identify the key themes that arose when users described their use of the sensor they had purchased
Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs), blocks of 10 characters that uniquely identify all products sold on Amazon, were scraped for all products listed in the department of ‘Indoor Air Quality Meters’ on Amazon, using the tool Helium10 on Monday, 25 January
The analysis of the key themes discussed by users of low-cost sensors in the Amazon reviews of these devices represents a first step in understanding (1) the motivations of the public in purchasing these sensors and (2) how such the sensors are being used
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Such work can enable the future design of low-cost sensors and data visualizations to provide easy-tointerpret insights to communities to address key questions or concerns It can aid in policy interventions to grow and sustain communities of sensor users. To address these research needs, this study analyzes product review comments on Amazon (a leading multinational online retailer) for 94 low-cost air quality monitors measuring a range of different pollutants: formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs or VOCs), particulate matter: PM1.0 , PM2.5 , and PM10 , carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), and ozone (O3 ), as well as a combined estimate of different pollutants in the form of an air quality index (AQI), in the price range of USD 13.97–USD 329, to identify the key themes that arose when users described their use of the sensor they had purchased. The underlying assumption is that words that occur often in the same sentence are likely to belong to the same latent topic
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