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Comment by murdockq | Hacker News Reader

The nearest current use of detection of particles in the air that I can think of is smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors for safety. Could adoption on these smart versions like Nest or Ring by adding your sniphi detector provide other types of early warning systems for safety, air quality or sensing?

Some thoughts are musty odors from mold/mildew, rotten egg smells indicating gas leaks, and fishy/burning plastic odors from electrical issues.

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That is actually an interesting direction. Since smoke detectors already exist, the next level could be distinguishing smoke from a cigarette — or even something harmless like burning scrambled eggs — from more dangerous sources such as burning carpet or electrical wire insulation. We will definitely think about it.

A mold detector is also an interesting idea. Our ‘digital nose’ can measure humidity and temperature as well, and these factors are often strongly correlated with mold growth. Combining odor detection with environmental data could therefore be very useful for early mold detection.

The mold detection angle seems especially promising since you already have humidity and temperature sensors on board. Curious whether you've looked at sensor baseline drift over time - that tends to be the main practical barrier for always-on environmental monitoring vs. short-burst QA checks where you can recalibrate between runs.

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