As part of a three day project from Plume Labs in London, these pigeons were tasked to monitor air pollution. Pigeon Air Patrol used tiny bird backpacks to crowdsource information on air quality in the English city. Interested parties could tweet their local pigeon to receive information.
The campaign was intended to increase sign ups to the Paris-based Plume Labs app which can monitor air pollution in more than 200 cities. The creative method of information gathering shows how politicized the issue of air pollution has become in Europe.
Although the birds have no resumed their normal lives, Plume Labs hopes to use human testers to further their aims in a similar project. They are also crowdfunding for their air map technology.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Crowdsourced Pollution Monitoring
- The Pigeon Air Patrol's backpack-wearing pigeons show a disruptive innovation opportunity for crowdsourced pollution monitoring.
- Animal-assisted Environmental Monitoring
- The use of backpack-wearing pigeons for air pollution monitoring presents a disruptive innovation opportunity for animal-assisted environmental monitoring.
- Crowdfunding Environmental Technology
- Plume Labs' crowdfunding campaign for their air map technology demonstrates the disruptive innovation potential of crowdfunding for environmental technology.
Where This Applies
- Environmental Monitoring
- The Pigeon Air Patrol's use of backpack-wearing pigeons suggests disruptive innovation opportunities for the environmental monitoring industry.
- Crowdsourcing
- The campaign's use of Twitter to crowdsource information on air quality indicates a disruptive innovation potential for the crowdsourcing industry.
- Animal-assisted Therapy
- The use of these pigeons for environmental monitoring also offers a unique way to incorporate animal-assisted therapy into the healthcare industry.
