Artificial intelligence for the care of green zones

The Italian company Ecobubble wants to develop more liveable and hospitable cities. Ecobubble takes on the challenge of curbing urban pollution with their green zones technology. Co-founder Nicola Nescatelli explains how.

What does Ecobubble do?

“We’re a company that designs and develops green solutions to curtail local pollution. We use integrated automation systems to do this and have different types of green solutions that can be linked to a variety of automation systems depending on the pollution problem. Our most requested services are: the design of public and private green zones for phytoremediation (remediation of pollutants using plants), Green Building, and the development of solutions for the Net Zero Emissions transition.

Also interesting: Plant filtration system as an alternative solution to treating wastewater

How did Ecobubble come about?

“The idea originated in the lecture halls of the Faculty of Astrophysics at the University of Rome. We were attending the ‘NASA Clean Air Study’at the time. This project was set up to develop new air purification methods for space stations. It was here that we introduced our self-sustaining space greenhouses for future colonies on Mars.”

Also read:: Living on Mars? Not so fast according to space experts

“We decided to first start applying our knowledge and experience on Earth, seeing that the Earth is now also benefiting from cooperative efforts for sustainability. And also because space missions have a rather longer time horizon. Our research for Ecobubble began by cataloging more than six hundred phytoremediated plants. This way, we now know which plants are the most efficient for a particular type of urban ecosystem. With the multispectral cameras and sensors that detect pollutants, the lushness of the vegetation and environmental parameters can then be calculated. These cameras are in turn connected to the water management system of the green zones. Even people who do not have green thumbs can garden in a clean way by using Ecobubbles technology.”

What challenges have you faced?

“Several. This project is quite complex because it takes various disciplines to develop it. Think of mathematicians, physicists, botanists and experts specialized in artificial intelligence. In order to bring Ecobubble to the market, we would need, out of necessity, an automation process that could support customers in taking care of the plants. And, of course, collaborations with universities and large organizations that believe in us.”

What does the future hold for Ecobubble?

“Although we have not pegged out our future yet, we will continue to use our creativity and scientific knowledge to create synergies between nature and technological innovations. We will tackle sustainability challenges. For now, we are in the process of constructing large green zones, and we have a pilot with Ecobubble home kits. We hope to put those home kits into mainstream sales within a year and a half.”