Make the invisible easier to understand.
An app born in Skopje turned hard-to-read air-quality data into something people could use in everyday life.
In practice. A mobile service originating in Skopje presents measurements from existing air-quality data sources in a more accessible interface.
What to keep in view
An app does not remove emissions. Company accounts of activism and policy change do not establish that AirCare caused those outcomes. Coverage and uncertainty vary by data source.
Start with information already available
AirCare began with a local frustration: people in Skopje could see winter haze without an easy way to understand what was in the air. Founder Gorjan Jovanovski built a mobile interface around existing government measurements.
The invention was not a new pollution sensor. It was a more usable connection between public information and the people it concerned. A map and understandable readings made an otherwise technical dataset easier to encounter.
A useful interface has responsibilities
The service subsequently expanded beyond North Macedonia. Its current approach combines different sources, including ground sensors and modelled information. Those sources have different resolutions, update intervals and uncertainties.
Our reading: environmental information becomes more useful when people can understand both the reading and where it comes from. Local measurements, estimates and gaps should remain distinguishable. A clear display should invite closer attention rather than imply precision the underlying data cannot provide.
Read next.
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