Pocketalk To Donate 500 Translators to Healthcare Organisations Battling COVID-19 in Europe. #Medical #Pocketalk

After providing communication support to medical staff on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus in the US and Japan, Pocketalk, a global leader in connecting conversations and removing language barriers, today announced it will be donating 500 units of its AI-powered translation device, Pocketalk W, to qualifying medical facilities, first aiders, testing sites and those in need of translation services. Pocketalk W devices, including those connected by the smart SIM card, V-Sim which will come with free connectivity donated by Vodafone, will be dispatched on a first come first-served basis, with a maximum of three units per organisation or NHS trust. Those interested can apply by filling out the form on the Pocketalk website.

 

Pocketalk has been used as an emergency communications tool to break down communication barriers between two people when it matters most. First responders recently aboard the Diamond Princess cruise line quarantined in Yokohama, Japan used Pocketalk as a quick and accurate support to speak with potentially ill passengers in more than 50 languages. What is more, it removed the need for a human translator, preventing even more people being exposed to the virus. Furthermore, in the US, Pocketalk has also been used in healthcare organisations that need translation support.

Medical professionals having to communicate with patients during this global pandemic will benefit from the following features:

  • 74 languages addressing 90% of the world’s population
  • Handheld translator designed for instant and accurate two-way communication at the touch of a button
  • Elimination of the need for a human translator, reducing both waiting time and potential exposure of others

“The health and safety of all people, especially first responders putting themselves at risk for others, is our number one priority when connecting the world through conversation,” said Noriyuki Matsuda, Founder and CEO of Pocketalk. “We hope that, through our donation, we are able to provide accessible translation services to those communities who need it most during this global health crisis.”

To apply for a donation of Pocketalk units, applicants must be employed by a healthcare organisation in Europe. Requests will be selected based on a first-come, first served basis for those most in need.

Transatel Launches IoV Connect, Next Generation, Secured and Global Connected Vehicle Platform. #NTT #IoV #Transtel

Having successfully deployed connectivity services for several market leaders in Europe, such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Jaguar Land Rover, ranging from vehicle manufacturers to service providers  Transatel announced today the launch of IoV Connect  a global cellular connectivity platform specifically designed for the sector of motorized vehicles.

 

Available as of today in PaaS mode, the platform is dedicated to solving vehicle manufacturers’ greatest challenges currently not being addressed by the market. The platform’s first key differentiator is ‘MNO selection at network-level’. Any addition, removal, change of host radio network anywhere in the world is programmed at network level and thus implemented instantaneously, not requiring complex Over-The-Air SIM profile update campaigns.

 

The second key differentiator is end user management, for which most connected car platforms come unequipped. Leveraging on Transatel’s 20+ years’ experience in launching mobile B2C offers around the world, IoV Connect offers the professional tools, insights and expertise to cover all aspects of pricing, marketing, billing, customer experience, customer care and regulatory compliance. Last, IoV Connect offers a fully re-brandable service for onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment, complete with marketing and end-user support services: Ubigi.

Complexity reduced: One integration for global deployment

Requiring but a single integration to cover the world (160+ countries to date), IoV Connect caters to vehicle manufacturers wishing to avoid the cost and/or complexity of multiple integrations with Mobile Network Operators. Most existing IoV platforms are feature-rich but rely on the aggregating of multiple

Mobile Network Operator profiles. As a vehicle manufacturer, you therefore still need a Service Agreement with the MNO in question. In the case of IoV Connect, Transatel is the MNO. Manufacturers no longer need to sign Service Agreements with Mobile Network Operators, simply Access Agreements, which greatly reduces complexity. Moreover, manufacturers benefit out-of-the-box from 160+ Access Agreements already bundled into the IoV Connect platform.

Creativity enabled: Configuration at network level

With most existing connected car platforms, manufacturers deciding on a change in Mobile Network Operator or a feature update must rely on costly (€0,60 to €1/SIM) Over-The-Air campaigns to reconfigure the SIM profiles inside their vehicles. Any inaccessible vehicles, such as garage-parked, or cars in motion, etc., will need to proceed physically to the dealership for a SIM profile update, with all that this entails.

 

Thanks to a configuration at network level, any switching of underlying host radio networks, or any new ‘connected vehicle’ feature developed, is instantly and seamlessly made available to vehicles across continents. The process, remaining perfectly transparent for the end user, leaves a lot of room for innovation at every turn.

Flexibility at every stage: Productized features, but tailored implementation IoV Connect offers a combination of productized features with full implementation, geographical scope and process flexibility.

 

 

Future-proofed: A secured solution for vehicle connectivity

Transatel has long been concerned with Security for the IoT and has developed a system for airtight connectivity. [3] IoV Connect has therefore been modeled considering the critical factor of security for vehicles, and this, at three levels.

 

First, as a licensed operator without spectrum, Transatel have their own non-geographic MNC (Mobile Network Code). The underlying resources used are therefore inaccessible from the exterior. For example, in the typical case of hacking with a massive brute-force attack via SMS, the only SMS accepted by the vehicle are those from the OEM’s authorized servers. The unwanted SMS can’t even reach the authentication process and therefore drain the vehicle’s battery in the process.

Second, all the software and firmware updates are not conducted via the internet.

Third, IoV Connect SIM profiles are embedded with security keys for authentication purposes, to further shield vehicles from unwanted intrusions. Of course, IoV Connect is compatible with any form of additional security processes and add-ons desired by the manufacturer.

 

 

IoV Connect’s security solution protects against threats and cyberattacks with a full set of services:

 

  • A secure architecture for Data and SMS: Private APN, vehicle isolation, public non-exposure, certified architecture

 

  • Global security functionalities on the architecture: Threats analysis, traffic filtering, SMS firewalling

 

  • TAC/IMEI lock

 

Getting a share of the value created by connected services

Caught between the GAFAM who control the apps, and the MNOs who control the connectivity, vehicle manufacturers are understandably trying to secure their share of the revenue created with the increasing use of apps within their vehicles.

 

 

Acting as an abstraction layer to MNO networks, IoV Connect enables OEMs to reap a share of the value generated from the connectivity services offered within their vehicles (whether from telematics, infotainment, or Wi-Fi on board). Manufacturers can also monetize the data collected and the access/visibility to their end users.

Last, IoV Connect enables manufacturers to retain their independence and bargaining power vis à vis MNOs and thus control their connectivity service and financial equation.

 

Bertrand Salomon, Transatel Co-CEO: “I’m excited about this launch, because it’s the result of years of observation and exchanges with the industry, and years of hard work from Transatel teams. IoV Connect can turn any complex, global Connected Car project, into a manageable enterprise with clear milestones and beneficial outcomes. By making things simple and global by design, we help manufacturers focus on their core activities and gain global economies of scale. We intend to prove that our platform for the Connected Car, both industry-specific and fully managed, is the safest option, and the most scalable and cost-effective business model for auto manufacturers, right up until they’re ready to become fully licensed telecom operators themselves!”

COVID-19 Pandemic Impact: Germ Concern Over Shared Surfaces Will Help Push Near 30% Growth In Smart Home Voice Control

A global emphasis on working from home combined with advice to minimize COVID-19 transmission from shared surfaces even within a home, will help cement the benefits of smart home voice control for millions of consumers. Last year, 141 million voice control smart home device shipped worldwide and, despite the key China market being impacted during the first quarter of 2020, the value of voice control during the pandemic will ensure that this year, voice control device shipments will grow globally by close to 30% over 2019, states global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research.

“A smarter home can be a safer home,” says Jonathan Collins, Research Director at ABI Research. Key among the recommendations regarding COVID-19 protection in the home is to clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily in household common areas (e.g., tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, remotes, handles, desks, toilets, sinks). “Voice has already made significant inroads into the smart home space and voice control can mean avoiding commonly touched surfaces around the home from smartphones, to TV remotes, light switches, thermostats, door handles and more. Voice can also be leveraged for online shopping and information gathering.”

But it is in conjunction with other smart home devices that voice brings greater benefits. Voice can be leveraged to control and monitor smart locks to enable deliveries to be placed in the home or another secure location directly, or monitored securely on the doorstep until the resident can bring them in. Similarly, and smart doorbells/video cameras can also ensure deliveries are received securely without the need for face-to-face interaction or exposure. “Such delivery capabilities are especially valuable for those already in-home quarantine or for those receiving home testing kits,” explains Collins.

“In the long term, voice control will continue be the Trojan horse of smart home adoption. COVID-19 is part of the additional motivation and incentive for voice control in the home that will help drive awareness and adoption for a range of additional smart home devices and applications,” Collins says. Greater emphasis and understanding, and above all, a change of habit and experience in moving away from physical actuation toward using voice in the home will support greater smart home expansion throughout individual homes. A greater emphasis on online shopping and delivery will also drive smart home device adoption to ensure those deliveries are securely delivered.

Precautions for COVID-19 will bring new routines into many millions of people’s daily lives in and around their homes. “Smart home vendors and system providers can certainly emphasize the role of voice and other smart home implementations to improve the day-to-day routines within a home and the ability to minimize contact with shared surfaces, as well as securing and automating home deliveries. There is role for integrating smart home monitoring and remote health monitoring with a range of features, such as collecting personal health data points (temperature, activity, heart rate) alongside environmental data (air quality or occupancy) to help in the wider response and engagement for smart city health management,” Collins recommends.

For a clearer picture of the current and future ramifications of COVID-19 across technologies and verticals, including Smart Home, download the whitepaper Taking Stock of COVID-19: The Short- and Long-Term Ramifications on Technology and End Markets.

Tips For Isolation – CLCKR Shows How to Stay Productive, Entertained and in Contact. #CLCKR

CLCKR, the mobile phone accessory company, reveals its tips to keep entertained, productive, and in contact with colleagues and loved ones during this period of home isolation. CLCKR’s patented phone grips and cases are invaluable and versatile products with numerous uses – both for work and for play.

Be Productive                                       

Working from home is the new normal but very few of us have the ideal setup ready and waiting. Make things a little easier for yourself by placing your phone with CLCKR in portrait mode next to your laptop or desktop computer and use your device as another screen to easily communicate with colleagues via video conference, view documents, or access your calendar.

Stay In Touch With Family

During these unsettling times, we need to be checking in with loved ones virtually rather than visiting them in person. Put your phone with CLCKR in landscape mode to catch up with parents and grandparents through your favourite video call app. It’s easier than ever to show someone you care, even though you can’t be there in person.

Meet Up With Friends

Hanging out in the pub isn’t possible, but happy hour needn’t be cancelled! There’s a burgeoning trend for groups to have dinner together in their respective homes over Facetime and Skype, or clink glasses virtually through Houseparty or Zoom. CLCKR is a handy tool to keep your phone in place in either portrait or landscape orientations, and stop it slipping around while you enjoy catching up with friends.

Try Isolation Dating

If you scheduled a date before the current crisis and are now about to cancel it, why not try the new craze for isolation dating instead? Switch the date’s location from that pub/ bar/ restaurant to your own home and meet your match online instead. Standing your phone up with CLCKR means you can concentrate on the date rather than the angle of the camera. Sparks might still fly as you chat through your phone screens, but if they don’t, it’s much easier to hang up than climb out the bathroom window!

Keep Entertained

Binge-watching your favourite film or TV streaming service will keep you entertained for quite some time while in isolation. Switching CLCKR to landscape mode while lying in bed or on the sofa makes watching YouTube videos, movies, and all sorts of other content, easy and handsfree.

Boost Your Social Media

If you have a little extra time on your hands, why not create some content for your social media accounts? During isolation, many people are filming their home workout regimes for Instagram Stories, posting comedic clips on Facebook, or sharing their musical performances and creative challenges on Twitter and TikTok. CLCKR makes recording and taking selfies a breeze.

Above all, stay safe and stay home!

There are two different CLCKR products available: The Universal CLCKR fits onto any device, is slimmer than any other product on the market and comes in a variety of colours and designs, all while being compatible with most wireless chargers. The CLCKR case with in-built stand is available for various iPhone devices.

87% willing to share their personal data to solve COVID-19. #GDPR #COVID-19

New research indicates a massive 87% of Irish people would be willing to share their personal data and medical records if it helped to solve a global pandemic like COVID-19. While 84% believe technology will ultimately help to beat the outbreak. This has been a recent topic of discussion on social media and forums due to GDPR and it is good to see people have some sense around this crisis we are now under for god knows how long.

The research was commissioned by the Irish Computer Society as part of currently ongoing Tech Week 2020, which aims to provide new and creative ways to help students engage with technology and provide them with hands-on opportunities to learn about how computing and related technology are reshaping every area of life.

Undertaken for the Irish Computer Society by iReach, the research surveyed 1000 people across Ireland in a range of age groups, providing insights into perceptions of COVID-19, technology, privacy, working, and social media. It found that:

  • 87% would be willing to share their personal data and medical records if it helped solve a global pandemic like COVID-19. This number rises to 93% in the 18-24 and 55+ cohorts.
  • 60% (71% of the 55+ cohort) would be open to an implantable device/chip if it made medical conditions easier to manage and enhanced day-to-day life.
  • 84% think technology can help to beat the Coronavirus outbreak. This increases to 92% in the 18-24 cohort and 90% in males.
  • 83% think technology will change the way we work after the COVID-19 crisis.
  • 78% don’t trust social media in spreading awareness about COVID-19 prevention. (55% in the 18-24 cohort do not trust social media for this purpose).

Jim Friars, CEO of the Irish Computer Society said: “Researchers, businesses and innovators around the world are putting technology to work to alleviate the effects of the global health crisis. From applications that collect data to track the spread of the virus to 3D printed ventilators for hospitals, it is no wonder that 84% think technology can help to beat the Coronavirus outbreak.

“Our survey further suggests that there is also a considerable cohort, 60% who would be open to an implantable device/chip if it made medical conditions easier to manage and enhanced day-to-day life. This figure rises to 71% in the over 55’s age cohort.”

“Efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus have also reached new levels. As the pandemic spreads further, it has become clear that personal data will play an essential role in understanding the virus and ultimately containing it. Our survey indicates that the vast majority of people are happy for medical researchers, practitioners, and public health officials to collect and analyse their personal data in a bid to better track the virus, learn more about how it spreads, and predict its movements.”

“One of the most common tools being employed around the world has been the gathering of location data using smartphones and data from mobile networks. Our phones track our steps and many people have wearable devices that can collect statistics on our vitals and lifestyle. Potentially, this data could now be used to track and accelerate a cure for COVID-19.”

“With this data available intelligent machine learning algorithms could identify trends that human experts can miss, then raise insights and recommendations for professionals to review and validate. The process could ultimately speed up detection in the case of COVID-19.”

“Governments around the world are already using technology to track the coronavirus outbreak as they race to stem its spread. China, Singapore and South Korea are using a combination of location data, video camera footage and credit card information, to track COVID-19 in their countries. There are also proposals to introduce track and trace technology here by way of an opt-in mobile phone app that will allow people to be notified if they were in close proximity to confirmed cases.

“However, while this presents many opportunities, it also raises important questions on data ownership, access and privacy. Concerns have already been raised by privacy activists about the use of temporary ‘symptom tracker’ applications used in the fight against the outbreak. Any personal data collected should be protected to the maximum extent of the law, anonymised as much as possible and disclosed only to health authorities, and not under any circumstances shared with other authorities without explicit consent.”

AWS Announces General Availability of Amazon Detective. Available in Ireland. #AWS #AmazonDetective

Today, Amazon Web Services Inc, announced the general availability of Amazon Detective, a new security service that makes it easy for customers to conduct faster and more efficient investigations into security issues across their AWS workloads. Amazon Detective automatically collects log data from a customer’s resources and uses machine learning, statistical analysis, and graph theory to build interactive visualizations that help customers analyze, investigate, and quickly identify the root cause of potential security issues or suspicious activities. There are no additional charges or upfront commitments required to use Amazon Detective, and customers pay only for data ingested from AWS CloudTrail, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Flow Logs, and Amazon GuardDuty findings. To get started with Amazon Detective, visit https://aws.amazon.com/detective/.

When customers face a security issue like compromised user credentials or unauthorized access to a resource, security teams must conduct an investigation to understand the cause, assess the impact, and determine the remediation steps. Before an investigation can even begin, customers must first collect and combine terabytes of potentially relevant data from network, application, and security monitoring systems, and make it available in a way that allows their security analysts to infer related anomalies. In order to explore the data, analysts rely on data scientists and engineers to turn seemingly simple questions like “is this normal?” into mathematical models and queries that can help produce answers. Customers then typically build custom dashboards that analysts use to validate, compare, and correlate the data to reach their conclusions. Security teams must continually re-establish baselines of normal behavior, understand new patterns of activity, and revisit application configurations as resources, accounts, and applications are added or updated in an environment. These complex and time-consuming tasks impede security teams’ ability to quickly investigate and respond to security issues.

Amazon Detective helps security teams conduct faster and more effective investigations. Once enabled with a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, Amazon Detective automatically begins distilling and organizing data from AWS CloudTrail, Amazon VPC Flow Logs, and Amazon GuardDuty findings into a graph model that summarizes resource behaviors and interactions observed across a customer’s AWS environment. Using machine learning, statistical analysis, and graph theory, Amazon Detective produces tailored visualizations to help customers answer questions like “is this an unusual API call?” or “is this spike in traffic from this instance expected?” without having to organize any data or develop, configure, or tune their own queries and algorithms.

Amazon Detective’s visualizations provide the details, context, and guidance to help analysts quickly determine the nature and extent of issues identified by AWS security services like Amazon GuardDuty and AWS Security Hub. Amazon Detective’s graph model and analytics are continuously updated as new telemetry becomes available from a customer’s AWS resources, allowing security teams to spend less time tending to constantly changing data sources. By letting the Amazon Detective service perform the necessary data sifting, security teams can more quickly move on to remediation.

“Even when customers tell us their security teams have the tools and information to confidently detect and remediate issues, they often say they need help when it comes to understanding what caused the issues in the first place,” said Dan Plastina, Vice President for Security Services at AWS. “Gathering the information necessary to conduct effective security investigations has traditionally been a burdensome process, which can put crucial in-depth analysis out of reach for smaller organizations and strain resources for larger teams. Amazon Detective takes all of that extra work off of the customer’s plate, allowing them to focus on finding the root cause of an issue and ensuring it doesn’t happen again.”

Amazon Detective is available today in the US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), Europe (Frankfurt), Europe (Ireland), Europe (London), Europe (Paris), Europe (Stockholm), Asia Pacific (Mumbai), Asia Pacific (Seoul), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Sydney), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), and South America (Sao Paulo) regions, with more regions coming soon.

T-Systems, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, is one of the world’s leading digital service providers. “As part of protecting our clients’ cloud applications and services, T-Systems’ security experts analyze billions of security-relevant events every day,” said Andrej Maya, Cloud Solutions Architect for T-Systems. “This has traditionally required using custom log management solutions that take considerable time and resources to maintain. Amazon Detective simplifies our security monitoring and helps our security analysts quickly understand potential issues without the complexity of managing the underlying data ourselves.”

WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content to global audiences. “Large security organizations are tasked with protecting huge environments with diverse workloads from a multitude of threats, while the smaller organizations I talk to often don’t have the resources to replicate the tooling and expertise of their bigger counterparts,” said Chris Farris who leads public cloud security for WarnerMedia and teaches Cloud Security for the SANS Institute. “Amazon Detective will help both of these groups reach faster, better-informed conclusions to their security investigations. It does the hard work of aggregating and analyzing high-volume telemetry sources like VPC Flow logs and CloudTrail. Larger organizations will see major efficiencies, and small teams will have access to information and tooling that they’d have a hard time collecting and building on their own.”

Expel provides transparent managed security, on-prem and in the cloud. “We have customers of all shapes and sizes running a diverse array of workloads on AWS, so it’s critical that we have high-quality data sources that can aid us in conducting fast and accurate security investigations,” said Peter Silberman, chief technology officer at Expel. “Amazon Detective offers our customers an additional layer of insight about what’s happening in their environment, which gives our security analysts more data and context to use during investigations without adding complexity to that process. With Amazon Detective, we’ll be able to process specific types of alerts faster, which means reducing investigation time and getting quicker, more detailed answers to our customers about what happened.

Taskade: Real-Time Collaboration Platform Launches Free Pro During COVID-19 #COVID-19

Taskade, a Y-Combinator backed startup, launches a real-time organization and collaboration platform for remote teams. This week, it announced it will be offering a 6-month free upgrade to its Pro version to support businesses and individuals adopting remote work amidst the COVID-19 situation.

Taskade is a real-time workspace for remote teams to manage tasks, write notes, and video chat together, on the same page.

 

 

In the past few weeks, the world has witnessed an unprecedented transition to work-from-home as businesses and organizations try to keep staff safe. But the overnight pivot to remote work has left many employees who haven’t previously worked off-site struggling with productivity and without access to adequate tools.

And these problems are all too familiar for the Taskade founding team.

“By the time we started Taskade, we had been working together as a remote, distributed team for many years. Despite our experience working remotely, we were frustrated about having to hack together multiple tools in order to get things done. Taskade is truly a remote-first tool.” says John Xie, Taskade’s Co-Founder and CEO.

 

 

Employees need a quick and easy way to dive into the work without the need for extensive training or high-level technical support. That’s why Taskade provides a user-friendly solution that lets fully distributed teams organize work, communicate via chat and video, share documents, manage tasks and collaborate in real-time.

If you have used tools like Asana, Trello, Todoist, Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Slack, you will feel at home as Taskade combines all the essential ingredients needed for remote collaboration into one simple tool. Another good news is that it’s available on all popular operating systems, including Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and as a browser extension and syncs in real-time.

Last year, the company secured a $5M seed investment from Y-Combinator and Grishin Robotics.

”We believe Taskade is fundamentally changing remote team collaboration by providing one tool that teams need to get work done effectively. Taskade provides a real-time, device-agnostic and cross-platform experience to end-users. We are excited to be part of the journey with the Taskade team,” said Dmitry Grishin, managing partner at Grishin Robotics.

If you’re interested in taking the app for a spin, head over to https://www.taskade.com/ to create a free account. You can also download Taskade’s mobile and desktop apps for all your devices at https://www.taskade.com/dow

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Urbanista reveals a record 2019. #TrueWireless #Headphones #UrbanistaLife

Urbanista, the Swedish lifestyle audio brand, revealed today that 2019 was a record year for the company. Last year, Urbanista’s revenues grew 70% on those of 2018, bolstered by more than 500,000 sales of its true wireless headphones, and online sales with annual growth in excess of 1,000%. Urbanista finished 2019 with revenues of 241 million SEK, compared to 145 million SEK in 2018, corresponding to a growth of 70 percent, year-on-year.

Urbanista’s Scandinavian design and quality audio engineering inspired by urban life resonate strongly with an ever-growing audience that values the freedom of a mobile lifestyle. As such, the company’s true wireless headphones – named Stockholm, Paris and Athens – have all proven popular with consumers and made Urbanista a strong presence in this growing category*. Since the product launched in May 2019, Urbanista has sold approximately 2,000 Stockholm units per day, while Paris and Athens (both first available in late 2019) have also been in high demand.

2019 was a period of global expansion for Urbanista, primarily in Germany, UK and US, as well as through e-commerce channels including Urbanista’s own online store. In addition to the company’s revenues growing 70% year-on-year from 2018 to 2019, Urbanista is proud to reveal that its total revenues have increased 1,000% during the past five years – from 20.8 million SEK in 2014 to 241 million SEK in 2019 (representing growth of 1,072%).

Anders Andréen, CEO of Urbanista, commented: “We are proud to be able to maintain good organic growth year after year. We will continue to develop in everything we do and are excited for the years to come.”

Urbanista has also grown in headcount at its Stockholm headquarters. In February, Tuomas Lonka was appointed Brand & Marketing Director – a newly-created role for this growing business. The perfect match for Urbanista’s next phase and promising growth trajectory, Tuomas has gained extensive experience in growth companies such as Happy Socks and Rovio (Angry Birds), as well as larger organisations like Telia and Nokia. Tuomas confirmed: “I’m thrilled about joining the team at Urbanista. Our brand has been growing across all our key markets and we have many new and exciting projects coming in 2020 and beyond.”

Image – Tuomas Lonka, Brand & Marketing Director

Check out their range and get a 15% discount from us using this link.   Check out our extensive reviews by searching Ubranista on site.

Humidity in the home and the impact on health. #Health #Coronavirus.

With our world shrinking and the majority of people now working from home, indoor air quality experts, Airthings, wanted to share some information on an issue that is easily fixed but often forgotten: humidity. Issues with humidity are a problem for everyone. It can cause mould growth, exacerbate eczema, bring on dust mite allergies, and has even been linked to asthma and respiratory illnesses. As if that wasn’t enough, the link between low humidity and infection has recently been investigated, and the results aren’t good. Since Airthings specialise in indoor air quality, they have generated a quick summary to demonstrate how healthy humidity levels impact everyone’s new temporary place of work; their homes.

The issue:

Researchers for the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention found that when humidity levels were at 23%, 70 to 77% of flu virus particles were still able to cause an infection an hour after coughing. Raising humidity levels to 43% reduced the percentage of infectious particles to just 14%.

New research:

Yale University recently unveiled ground-breaking research that discovered the link between low humidity and the increased risk of contracting the flu virus. The lead researcher found that the body’s natural defence mechanisms were hindered in fighting the flu virus in environments of low humidity.

Why should I care?

The CDC research shows that the flu virus survived for longer in low humidity. The Yale researcher found that low humidity also made it more difficult for the body to remove inhaled particles and therefore reduced the test subject’s natural defences and increased the chances of contracting flu.

The risk:

The tricky thing about humidity levels is that they fluctuate and vary depending on the home, daily activities, the seasons and much more. Excess humidity levels can result in mould growth on window panes and in the home whereas very low humidity levels can help the spread of the flu virus as shown in the research.

 

Correct humidity levels:

Healthy indoor humidity levels are between 30-50% according to Environmental Protection Agency recommendations. By keeping the home in between these recommended levels, it can reduce the risk that comes with poor indoor humidity.

How to maintain healthy humidity levels:

Humans find it hard to detect when humidity levels are changing, that is why we are so good at adapting to different environments. The problem is, we only notice when humidity levels are really bad, where we start scratching our skin or notice mould growth. The best solution is to monitor humidity, that way you can be alerted to when levels get too high or low. Airthings Wave Mini helps to monitor humidity, or by upgrading to Airthings Wave Plus, the device offers complete indoor air insights including humidity and radon gas.

In addition, Airthings have compiled their  top tips to fix humidity in your home. The important thing to remember is that as long as humidity is monitored, it will show when is the right time to make these small changes to fix the issue before it becomes a bigger problem. With regards to the Coronavirus, the World Health Organisation warns that everyone can be at risk including those living in hot, humid conditions. For information and support on the Coronavirus, read what the WHO says here.

Want to find out more? Airthings take a further look into the research and the importance of healthy air when working from home, here.