CO2GO  
 

project description

Today, more than a third of global CO2 emissions are generated by transportation. CO2GO, a new type of smartphone application, is an effective tool that assists in making smarter individual transportation choices to collectively reduce carbon emissions in cities.
Making sophisticated use of the sensors contained in a standard smartphone (accelerometer, GPS, …) carried in your pocket, CO2GO deploys an unprecedented algorithm to calculate in real-time the carbon emissions while on the move. It does so by automatically detecting your mode of transportation (walking, biking, train, car, bus, subway,…) while tracking the distance covered.

sensors
 
     
 
  how it works

The backbone of the CO2GO smartphone application is a software engine responsible for the collection and interpretation of data generated by a smartphone's sensors. Unlike past work in this field, this approach does not require the phone to be oriented in a specific way - leaving the user to keep it in any position in the pocket or otherwise. Accelerometer traces are interpreted in real-time by the engine's algorithm for the detection of transportation mode while GPS data together with recurring online map queries establish the actual way covered as well as contributing to the accurate detection of the travel mode.

More information on the technical background […]

CO2GO and the city

Users can share their low carbon emission routes with the user community, enabling others to consult alternatives to their usual travel routes or even challenge fellow users in a real-world game situations. The application enables users can compare their travel emissions with the total and average emissions generated by the CO2GO user community as well as the whole city. And finally, the app informs users about calories burned during their individual way of traveling, offering an insight into health issues while on the move.

 
     
  accelerometer traces for distinct transportation modes  
  traces  
  user interface  
 
UI-1 The user's travel mode is determined and visualized top right to provide feedback about the correct functioning. Travel time, distance covered and associated CO2 emissions are updated in real-time together with a map view of the user's route.   UI-2 The "city" view provides insight in how the user's carbon emissions and travel distance compare to his fellow citizen's total and average values, enabling him, among others, to identify whether her contributes to an increase or decrease in average CO2 emissions.   UI-3 Within the "share" screen a user can give others access to select travel routes and their emissions as well as being able to consult other user's low emission routes, tapping into a collective effort to reduce CO2 emissions generated by urban mobility.
 
     
  team

Carlo Ratti lab director
Kristian Kloeckl project leader
Vincenzo Manzoni
Diego Maniloff
Nathan Villagaray-Carski
Rex Britter

video support
Christine Outram
Filippo Camedda
Dustin York
Adam Pruden
Lindsey Hoshaw
Diego Maniloff

project partner

 
  sncf-senseable

Accessibility

 
 
Press Materials
The material on this website can be used freely in any publication provided that:

It is duly credited as a project by the MIT Senseable City Lab. PDF copy of the publication is sent to senseable-press@mit.edu

For more information, senseable-contacts@mit.edu

 
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