揭開空氣的秘密 Something In The Air

In today's show we are introducing a very young and very successful startup based in Beijing.

The company is young and so are its founders but the products they developed introduced to the world some cutting edge technology and design and are now shipped from Beijing to every part of the world and even got the attention of global tech giant Apple who is now offering their products in all Apple stores in China.

The company's name is Kaiterra and the product we are talking about is called the Laser Egg.

If you live among the expat communities of Beijing or Shanghai you must have seen dozens of Laser Eggs in your friends' homes, your favorite restaurants, your gym and you probably own one yourself.

If you never saw a Laser Egg and you are wondering what a product with such a strange name can do, we will tell you that it has nothing to do with eggs, with cooking or with raising chicken.

The Laser Egg is a super sensitive, super accurate, highly advanced, portable air quality monitor designed for personal use, easy to set, read and operate.

So why is it called the Laser Egg?

Because of it's design.

Why is it designed in the shape of an egg?

Because it's fun.

And Kaiterra believes that life should be fun, and so should technology and so should environmental monitoring.

Gail met with Jessica Lam, one of the three co-founders of Kaiterra to hear about smart air monitoring, about innovation and about the way to better living and more fun.

在今天的節目中我們將介紹一個年輕而成功的北京創業公司。無論是這家公司還是它的創始人都十分年輕，但是他們從北京向全世界推廣的產品運用了尖端技術，甚至得到了世界科技巨頭蘋果公司的注意。現在，所有的蘋果商店都提供他們的產品。

這家公司叫Kaiterra，而我們要介紹的產品叫鐳豆。如果你住在北京或上海的外國人社區，你一定已經在朋友家裡、餐館里或體育館里看到過很多鐳豆了，甚至你自己就可能有一個。如果你聞所未聞，並且在好奇這個掛著奇怪名字的東西能幹什麼的話，我們要告訴你，它和豆子沒有關係。

鐳豆是一個非常靈敏、精確、高級的空氣質量檢測儀，專為個人使用設計，便攜、易讀、好操作。為什麼它的名字叫鐳豆呢？因為它的設計。為什麼它被設計成圓圓的豆子形狀呢？因為有趣。Kaiterra認為生活、科技和環境監測都應該是有趣的。

Gail與Kaiterra的三位聯合創始人之一Jessica Lam會面，了解自動空氣檢測和怎樣創新，以及如何更健康有趣地生活。

In 2014 Jessica came to Beijing to join her husband, Swiss adventurer and TV presenter Liam Bates who after completing a cross country motorcycle tour in China decided to stay in Beijing.

For the newly weds it was time to end the long distance relationship and start living in the same city.

The idea was for Jessica, a certified CPA, to find a job in Beijing and stay with her husband.

However, an old and forgotten medical condition suddenly erupted soon after her arrival and it got the couple wondering about the quality of the air in the city and in their home.

This is How Kaiterra was born, in the living room of their apartment, a small group of friends trying to find a way to get informed.

2014年，Jessica來北京找她的丈夫Liam Bates，一個瑞士冒險家、電視主持人，他在一次環機車之旅后決定留在北京。這對新婚夫妻終於結束了兩地分居，開始生活在同一座城市。此時作為註冊會計師的Jessica需要在北京找一份工作，但是她在北京很快感到不舒服，這使得這對夫婦開始擔心戶外和家裡的空氣質量。

所以Kaiterra誕生了，誕生在一小群朋友在客廳關於如何掌握空氣狀況的討論中。

But why spend so much time and effort building a measuring device?

If the air is bad why not just build something to clean it, like a purifier or a filter?

Well this is where you can see how serious the Kaiterra team is about fixing our environment.

According to them if we wish to fix anything the right way we need to first understand every aspect of what's wrong with it, take the right measurements, do it individually and independently and first give people back the feeling that they are in control, in control of their environment.

"Seeing is believing" and "knowledge is power" and with all these catch phrases the Kaiterra team decided that they first wish to start by being informed, everywhere and all the time.

The team decided that first they need an accurate measuring tool to check if the air is bad or not and if they are purifying it well or not at home and in places they visit frequently, and they started by setting out a guideline of what their machine must have.

A good, independent measuring device gives us the freedom to make decisions such as add insulation, turn the air purifier on, turn it off, add an extra purifier or fix a problem in our house.

但是為什麼花費時間和經歷去做一個監測設備呢？如果空氣狀況糟糕，為什麼不直接製造一個凈化儀或過濾儀呢？這就是Kaiterra對待環境的認真之處了。他們認為，改善的第一步應該是明白環境質量差的源頭，自主獨立地進行正確的監測，帶給人們「我們仍然能夠有效掌握環境質量」的感覺。「眼見為實」「知識就是力量」，這些理念讓Kaiterra決定他們的第一步是收集足夠的信息。

首先，這個團隊需要一個精確的檢測設備去檢測空氣質量是否合格，以及在家庭和常去地點的凈化是否真正有效。他們先列出了這個設備需要具備的性能：一個優秀的獨立檢測儀必須能夠給我們建議，例如是否需要防霾、開關空氣清潔器、開啟額外凈化和解決其他問題。

When moving into a new apartment or a new office a quick tour around with the Laser Egg can help us determine the air quality in the space and where are the trouble areas that need extra attention in renovation or air purifying.

The first time I saw the Laser Egg in friends' house I noticed that they really enjoyed the mobility.

The idea that it is an independent unit and they can take it and measure the air quality next to the door, next to the window, over the stove behind the fridge and outside where their children play appealed to them.

But for the Kaiterra team that was not enough.

They want us to be able to measure the air quality at home even when we are not there, they want the house to prepare itself for our return and start purifying the air for us before we arrive.

That was when they decided that the Laser Egg should be able to connect to our mobile devices and should be able to communicate with other appliances in our home.

This is also when they got the attention of Apple.

當我們搬到新家或者新辦公室時，帶著鐳豆走一圈可以讓我們獲知新空間的空氣質量狀況以及需要額外凈化的問題區域。我在朋友家裡第一次看見鐳豆時，就注意到了他們非常喜歡鐳豆的移動性。因為鐳豆是一個獨立的設備，他們可以隨時攜帶並用它監測門窗、爐灶、冰箱旁邊的空氣質量，當然還有孩子玩耍的戶外。

然而對於Kaiterra來說這還不夠。他們希望即使不在家時我們也能檢測家裡的空氣質量，希望我們的家能在我們到家之前自動開始清潔空氣。所以他們決定要讓鐳豆聯通移動設備和其他家用電器。

When we think about air quality we think about the outdoor air, industrial and car pollution and those PM 2.5 particles that we can't stop talking about, but in fact, the air quality of our indoor environment is often more influenced by a large group of other pollutants, ones that have nothing to do with weather or industry and have a lot to do with things we buy and how we build our houses.

What are Total Volatile Organic Compounds and can the Laser Egg monitor them as well?

Listen to our interview to hear the answers!

談到空氣質量時我們通常都會想到一直在談的戶外空氣、工業污染、汽車尾氣和PM2.5顆粒，但實際上戶內空氣質量受其他污染物形象更大。這些污染物和霧霾或工業污染無關，但是與我們買的東西和室內裝修有關。

什麼是室內有機氣態物質呢？鐳豆能不能檢測到它們呢？請收聽訪談得到答案吧！

Like many of the entrepreneurs we interviewed before here on FM Lifestyle, Jessica too sees China as a great hub for innovation and creativity.

When I ask why have their company in Beijing and not in Switzerland or Vancouver Jessica is surprised with my question, Beijing is a great place for startups she says, people here are aware of the problems and are willing to take action and work hard to solve them.

像我們採訪的許多企業家一樣，Jessica同樣把視作創新之地。當我問到為什麼把公司設在北京而非瑞士或溫哥華時，Jessica十分驚訝。她說，北京是極好的創業地點，人們總能意識到不足並快速解決他們。

Throughout the year Kaiterra holds various online and offline events promoting exchange of ideas and sharing information about their products.

With each new Kaiterra product there is a launch event and promotions and discounts are often available, as a matter of fact, a very attractive one is available for our FM Lifestyle listeners right now, (check out the bottom of this article for details).

一年來Kaiterra舉辦了多次線上線下活動，交流想法、分享產品信息。每一件Kaiterrra產品都會有一個發布會和推廣活動，也經常會打折。現在FM Lifestyle聽眾能夠獲得一個特別福利哦，在文章底部會有詳細信息！

Here is how you can follow the latest Kaiterra news, events and products and of course, get in touch and ask questions.

翻譯：張瀚元

About us:

FM Lifestyle is Radio 774's new lifestyle magazine flag show.
Launched in January 2016, FM Lifestyle is an interview based daily show focusing on lifestyle, entertainment, services and creative projects around China.
Hosted by two of our lead hosts, Gail Zohar and Chloe Liu, the show combines traditional and new media platforms as well as social networks. Throughout the year Gail and Chloe will be visiting venues, attending events, meeting with entrepreneurs, innovators, chefs and artists bringing first hand experience reports, sounds and sights to our listeners in China and around the world.