An IoT Virtual Sensor for Indoor Health Risk Assessment

Indoor environments have a significant impact on human health and well-being. With the increasing urbanization and the amount of time individuals spend indoors, there is a growing need for accurate and real-time monitoring of air quality and health risks. Moreover, the mere presence of people inside closed environments, in addition to saturating the environment with gases typically produced by human respiration, entails contamination of a microbiological nature due, for example, from exhaled aerosols which can contain several pathogens. In this study, we propose an Internet of Things virtual sensor for indoor health risk assessment that integrates several physical sensors measuring various parameters related to indoor air quality, including temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide levels, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter with the purpose to indirectly estimate the bacterial load present in the air. Preliminary results, obtained in a real testbed, demonstrate, from the qualitative point of view, the appropriateness of the proposed device