RE: REempower and REcycle

This paper briefly presents two concepts of “RE” (1) re-empowering individuals using personal mobile technology reconstructed as measurement instruments and (2) re-cycle as a design constraint for extending a product’s usable lifetime. In the first example we demonstrate the integration of simple low-cost, low-power air quality sensors attached to a mobile phone. In the re-cycle case, we demonstrate the extended re-use of mobile phones using them as toolkits for new duties.