In what is likely to be the first of many iPhone applications that use the built-in GPS to assist with carbon calculations, Clear Standards has released a free iPhone app called “Carbon Tracker.” As I don’t have an iPhone, I cannot evaluate this application directly but I will offer a few thoughts.
First, as previously mentioned on this blog, the iPhone does not allow applications to run in the background. Thus, I would speculate that in the case of this “Carbon Tracker” application, the user would have to explicitly launch it and have it running as the top level application in order to automatically log trips via GPS. As a result of this constraint, the GPS functionality will likely be underutilized. Not to mention the set of technical challenges relating to how the GPS data is cleansed and segmented into trips as well as user tolerance for inaccurately deduced travel estimations. See my paper with John Krumm on automatically converting car GPS data to the more semantically meaningful “trip” here (specifically, the section entitled “From GPS Data to Trips”).
Second, because the “auto-trip” functionality will likely be undermined by the iPhone’s background process restriction, users will have manually log their trip data in order to produce accurate carbon counting information. In my opinion, a user would have to be extremely motivated to open “Carbon Tracker” and enter such comprehensive trip data.
Finally, what incentives outside of a personal commitment to reducing carbon emissions does one have to use this application? What sort of user will be motivated to maintain accurate records for an indefinite amount of time–would even the most sensitive environmentalist use this application once the novelty wore off replaced by the tedium of manually entering such data? My guess is that Clear Standards has an enterprise version of this application which could rely on corporate policies to enforce usage (e.g., for record keeping purposes). This seems to be supported (and implied) by Richard Mendis, co-founder of Clear Standards:
Although Clear Standards is known for developing carbon management software for businesses, we recognize the important role of individuals in helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions… The Carbon Tracker iPhone app…engages individuals as part of our overall carbon management and sustainability solutions.
See also related posts:
- greenMeter: Using the iPhone’s Built-in Accelerometer to Calculate Fuel Efficiency
- Mobile Applications that Monitor Tranportation Activity
Related posts:
- San Francisco Schools Pilot Program: Mobile Carbon Tracker
- greenMeter: Using the iPhone’s Built-in Accelerometer to Calculate Fuel Efficiency
- Sensing Opportunities for Personalized Feedback Technology to Reduce Consumption
- Bridge Closes, Train Ridership Increases
- Mobile Phones: Quick Access to Environmental Impact of Products
It seems that this is mostly a manual logging tool. The GPS is used as an additional feature for assistance in calculating trip distance, not for detecting trips.
“Use the GPS feature while traveling to determine the length of each leg of your journey, so you don’t have to guess the distance.”
I was pleased to see the use of goal setting and the ability to monitor use against personal and group emissions targets. Also, they have a method for calculating Carbon Output, a nice baseline measure of “greeness”.
I agree that it is mostly a manual logging tool–it’s unclear how useful the GPS actually is (it doesn’t appear to add a lot of value). You can also tell from the “Activities Screen” that the user was manually annotating their trips with descriptions (requiring yet more manual effort). To your point about GPS being a tool to assist calculating trip distance… fair enough. One still has to remember to open the application when the trip begins.
The more interesting discussion is, as you highlighted, the type of features that the application supports and the visual design around carbon tracking. Like you, I was pleased to see the goal setting feature, particularly after I just blogged about goal-setting theory. That said, take another look at the interface–goals are set in terms of monthly carbon footprints. Is this really the way in which people think about the world? What is a carbon footprint anyway? Moreover, I understand that my travel patterns might not be consistent from month to month but am I really going to change my monthly goal based on my predicted travel? That seems rather heavyweight–how good are we at estimating our carbon footprints anyway? In the top screenshot (”The Home Screen”) we can see that the user massively underestimate their carbon footprint in June and August. Was this because they made greener choices or simply did not log as accurately for that month?
Without actually downloading and using this application, it’s difficult to critique. Hopefully, someone from our lab with an iPhone will install it.
You bring up two questions about the logging – the metric by which they measure (Carbon Footprint) and the granularity of data and goal.
Carbon Footprint is a concrete and comparable measure for general climate change, but it steps could be taken to make it more real for people, such as likening it to number of trees needed to combat it or converting the CO2 output to miles driven in a car.
With the goal, I can’t tell if they have used the equivalent of 60lbs already and the month has only just started, or if they continue at current rates that will be what they use this month. It seems critical to know how you are performing relative to your goal at all times.