Our technology

Our technology is based on the idea of personal air purification. Where we put the user in the center of the clean air. To create a safe, and personal microenvironment that we control. Your own personal bubl. if you will.

The biggest challenge is to create this bubl. in an open environment, like when you’re moving around outside, exposed to the elements. A stationary air purifier that you have indoors works by circulating the air in that room a couple of times every hour, cleaning some of it every time it goes through. In our case, when outdoors, we’re doing a so-called first passage cleaning. We’re not able to recirculate like the stationary air purifiers do, because the room we’re working in is the whole world. 

So how do we do it? The more confined the space is, of course, the more control you can have over it. However, you don’t want a completely encapsulated space since this increases the risk of heat development (think of a car on a warm and sunny day), and the risk of losing contact with your child. 

Heat can be especially dangerous for small children and is one of the major risk factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). One other important factor for SIDS is actually air pollution. Adding the negative effects of air pollution listed earlier on this page, you want to keep the exposure of air pollution as low as possible. 

Earlier attempts have either presented an open solution which resulted in a low purification ratio, generally between 40-50%, or total encapsulation with a high level of purification (>90%), but with the risk factors listed above. This has always been a hard balancing act, until now…

Thanks to our patented technology, and unique design, the babybubl. is able to create this microenvironment, up to 95% cleaner than the surrounding air, without encapsulation. The babybubl. is an accessory to strollers and prams, and we use the canopy to create a semi-encapsulated space. That means the stroller or pram is just as it was before, but with clean air inside.

The only prerequisite for the babybubl. to work is that the canopy has a ventilation, or mesh window, at the center part, preferably at the back. The babybubl. takes in polluted air through this ventilation window, pushes it through the HEPA-filters inside of the unit, and then, the purified air enters into the side portions of the babybubl. The side portions of the babybubl. facing the baby, consists of an advanced mesh-fabric, acting as a distribution layer for the air entering into the canopy.

By the help of our design and the special fabrics,we’re slowing down the airstream velocity to less than 0,15 m/s. This very slow velocity is not experienced as a draught. As a matter of fact, unless you put your hand on the outlet areas of the babybubl., you won’t feel anything at all. This is important for two reasons:

1. Safety for infants: An airstream with a velocity of <0,15 m/s is not experienced as a draught, and nothing you react to. Children up to the age of 12 months have an inherent survival reflex called the ”diving reflex”. It’s triggered by cold water or a blowing wind to the face. This is somthing that’s for example used in activities like when you go swimming with your baby, before submerging them into the water. What happens when this reflex is triggered is that the airways closes shut to prevent water from entering the lungs, and the whole system goes into ”energy saving mode” by slowing down both heart rate and metabolism. – we don’t want that when we want to deliver clean air to your child.

1. Creating the bubl.: Airstreams above 0,15 m/s generally create turbulence. What happens when you have turbulence is that air is sucked in behind the airstream, causing a dilution of the air being pushed through. The process of creating the bubl. is volume dependent, and the babybubl. pushes roughly 150 L of air through the unit, every minute. By slowing down the airstream to a velocity below 0,15 m/s we’re able to avoid turbulence and simply fill up the space underneath the canopy with purified air from the unit. What this also accomplishes is that it prevents polluted air from entering through the opening in the canopy, hence the high level of purification. 

HEPA is something you probably come in contact with many times in your everyday life. It’s the most widely used type of filter that can be found in almost everything, from vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, ventialtion systems, to operating theaters in the hospitals. 

HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air, and is a type of filter composed of a mat of randomly arranged fibers. To be a HEPA-filter, it needs to meet the strict HEPA-standard (ISO). This means that the filter needs to have a certain degree of efficiency, namely to be able to remove at least 99,95% of particles whose diameter is equal to 0,3 micrometers, and with a filtering efficiency increasing for particles both less, and greater, than 0,3 micrometers.

To give you something to relate to in regard to particle size, here’s a list of different particles and their respective sizes.

The fibers of the HEPA filter media are typically composed of polypropylene or fiberglass with a diameter of between 0,5 and 2 micrometers. The fibers create a narrow, winding passage through the filter, where large particles collide with the fibers directly. The smaller particles can’t keep up with the airstream in all of the twists and turns, and will also end up colliding with the fibers. 

HEPA filters have been shown to capture particles like pollen, dirt, dust, moisture, bacteria, virus, and submicron liquid aerosols. Even particles as small as 0,02 micrometers.

The mechanism in which the particles of different sizes get trapped are:

• Diffusion – Where the particles are effectively blown or bounced around and collides with the filter media fibers. These are generally the particles of sizes <0,3 micrometers, and especially those <1 micrometer..
• Interception – Where particles following a stream of air come within one radius of a filter media fiber and adhere to it. These are the mid range particles, generally above 0,3 micrometers.
• Impaction – Where the particles are too big to avoid the fibers and forced to embed in one of them directly. These are the larger particles.
• Electrostatic attraction – Where particles or aerosols with an electrical charge attract to the electrostatically charged fibers.     

When a filter has a lower efficiency, generally between 85% and 99,5 % they’re actually called EPA-filters, which stands for Efficient Particulate Air, and if they have a higher degree, they’re called ULPA (Ultra Low Particulate Air). 

The filters used in the babybubl. are HEPA class 11, or more accurately, an EPA-filter, made out of electrostatically charged polypropylene fibers, with an efficiency of 95%. However, these are theoretical numbers, or measurements that’ve been performed under laboratory-like conditions. When looking at, or designing an air purifier, the efficiency of the air purifier itself, can actually be higher with a lower grade HEPA filter. This is due to airflow, pressure drop, leakage, etc. And what’s really important in the end, is the quality of the air that you breathe.

We’re not your typical air purifier-company. When you look at ads or specifications for other air purifiers, they always display what their filters are able to do. Since most of them use HEPA-technology they’re gonna say that they remove close to 99,95% of particles from the air. We wan’t to challenge them on that statement. 

This number, 99,95%, comes from the filter manufacturers when they test their filters in a lab-like environment, with absolutely no leakage whatsoever. All of the air goes through the filters. Is this in any way representative of how it looks in real life – of course not. There will always be some amount of leakage, and also factors that influence the air that enters, or exits the filter, or air purifier itself. Also, as mentioned above, there’s the factor of turbulence to take into account when you have an airstream above 0,15 m/s, or the fact that not all air gets into the circulation.

Since the beginning, all we really care about is the real values. How it looks in real life, and in real situations. That’s why we always put our measuring equipment where it really matters: where the child’s mouth and nose are. And in all of the tests we’ve performed we’re able to show that we’re creating a microenvironment up to 95% cleaner than the surrounding air in regards to PM, measured at that location.

The tests have been performed in both a laboratory environment, with added disturbing elements, eg wind of varying speed and directions, and also in real life, walking around with a stoller equipped with a babybubl. 

Validation and certification

Our technology has been third party tested, certified and validated by both large companies working in air purification, by TÜV SÜD, one of the biggest and most well renowned certifications and testing organizations, and by the Research Institutes of Sweden (RiSE). We have several patents, both approved and pending on many of the largest international markets.

Here you can see a list of certifications and safety tests our product have passed:

EN 301 489-1 &-17 v3.2.0 / EMC radio device IMS 2,4GHz, 5GHz

EN 300 328 v2.2.2 / Short range radio

RF Exposure EN 62311:2008 / EN 50566:2017

RF Exposure 47 CRF 2.1091/1093, ISED RSS-102

IEC 62368-1:2014 , mod. + Cor.:2015 EN 62368-1:2014 + AC:2015 + A11:2017

UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC):

– FCC ID

– ETL/CETL

– IC (ISED)

– CP65

Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH),

Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS)

CB

UL2054

UL62368

UN38.3 test

Air & Sea safe transport test

Textiles

All of the textiles used in our product have the strictest requirements and limit values to make sure it’s safe to be used even for infants. They’re also compliant with flammability requirements. Everything to make sure the babybubl. is a safe product for you and your child. 

The textiles in the babybubl. are machine washable at 40 degrees C. 

Sound

Sound is important, and something we’ve put a lot of work and effort into. To be able to create a safe, quiet, and soothing environment for your child.

In our everyday life,we’re surrounded by sounds. Whether it’s the sounds of nature, or the sounds of city life. These sounds can have an impact on our health, and can sometimes be referred to as noise pollution. To be considered harmful, the sound needs to be above 70 dB for a prolonged period of time. Prolonged exposure to noise above this level can negatively affect your hearing, and cause negative health effects like hypertension, elevated stress hormones etc. Examples of noise pollution are primarily the noise coming from traffic or construction. 

Sound, or noise, is measured using the decibel scale. 

The noise level of the babybubl. is:

44 dB on lowest fan speed

46 dB on medium fan speed

50 dB on highest fan speed

*All of these measurements on the babybubl. have been done at 20 cm, unlike sthe standard measurement

of 1 m distance.

This is because we’re only interested in the noise level at the baby’s head, because that’s where it really matters.

Another important factor to whether a sound can be considered disturbing, or soothing, is dependent on its frequency, amplitude and regularity. Irregular sounds are harder to block out.  

The noise being emitted from the babybubl. is a typical white noise, which creates a soothing environment for children. White noise is the result of sounds from different frequencies being emitted simultaneously, with the same amplitude. This sound is regular in its perception, and can actually help children block out irregular sounds which would otherwise be perceived as disturbing. White noise is a frequently used method, known to be soothing for children, and can help them sleep better.

Crowdsourced air pollution data

What do we want to achieve? Clean air for all in the future. We hope to accomplish this, both by increasing awareness, and by contributing to science. 

The babybubl. is equipped with advanced sensors, able to measure particulate matter in the air. There’s also sensors for temperature and humidity, which can also be interesting to know, both for the parents themselves, and to make sure their baby is in a good environment.

When you’re connected to the bubl. companion app you’ll be able to see temperature and particulate matter inside of your child’s bubl. in real time. Thanks to available data from public measuring stations we’re also able to show you how the air quality looks outside of the pram, in your area.

However, there are only approximately 30 000 stationary measuring stations in the world. This means they’re very sparsely situated. They also differ in what they measure, and how often they do it. Most of these stations are positioned on rooftops, or next to highways. A small portion of them are positioned at ground level, however, the intake of where they typically measure the air quality is more than 3 m up in the air. This, even though we know, thanks to studies, that children, up to 1 m above ground are exposed to approximately 60% more air pollution than the parent walking with their child in a stroller.

This means that the measurements from the stationary measuring stations aren’t really representative of the air quality where people live their lives. In some places governments and organizations have started to take a bigger interest in air quality, and expanding the number of measuring stations. For example close to schools.

We want to contribute to this. By inviting our users to make, what we call “spot measures”, we hope to increase the number of measuring stations markedly, which will help us paint a much more detailed picture of air pollution. With measurements being done in places, and at a height more representative of how the air quality actually is.

We call this crowdsourced air pollution data, where the users contribute to help us create a powerful instrument for people, community builders, and organizations, to combat the main problem of air pollution. When we know more about the problem, how it actually looks, and what can be done about it, we might be able to make better decisions which in the end will lead to clean air for all.  

Data protection

In the world we live in, data and information is the new gold being mined pretty much everywhere we look. Just to make this clear, bubl. is not interested in your personal information. All we care about is air quality. We comply with all of the data protection laws to make sure your integrity is protected. 

However we do need your help to be able to collect this data on air pollution where you are. But, rest assured, your data is well protected. When you accept to share your measurements with us, the data is thoroughly anonymized and put into our heat map to avoid your position from being tracked or displayed. The more measurements we get from a certain area, the more detailed the heatmap will be.

We want to be able to make a change, for more people to be able to breathe clean air. To be able to do this, you’re invited to help us. To become one of our air champions.

You can read more here: Terms and conditions