This week has launched the mobile App Al K. Polen, which report the levels of pollens and spores in Catalonia, using information produced by the Xarxa Aerobiològica de Catalunya (XAC).
Al K. Polen allows the user to select the type of pollen in which one is interested from a wide range of options, from elms to cypress, and see the current level in the screen. The service also shows the tendency of that particular factor; whether it will increase or it will decrease, or if it is on standby. To test the accuracy of the data, a map shows the distance between the user and the nearest data collection station. At the moment, the application is only available for iPhone, although an Android version is expected soon. Part of the profits gotten from the application will go to keep the staff of the XAC and to improve and expand the projects they carry out. Al K. Polen also has a Twitter account (@alkpolenapp) where users will see the app’s most relevant data.
The information shown is compiled by the XAC, a research and knowledge transfer project promoted by Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). Al K. Polen has started only with data from Catalonia; however, the will of the instigators is to provide figures of the entire peninsula and Andorra. Therefore, users are encouraged to collaborate by making a tweet asking for the expansion of the geographic data scope.
The App has been created by LaFosca, a young company located in the Barcelona’s 22@ district committed to innovation and to the new formats. A team awarded in the 2011 and 2012 editions of the BCN Apps Jam, a developers competition organized by the City Council of Barcelona. Among his clients it stands out Teambox, a start-up with offices in Barcelona and California.