Before Kickstarter became a hub for big brands and conglomerates to market their upcoming launches, it was a crowdfunding platform where small to medium-scale designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs came to pitch their creations, hoping to get noticed and, if the stars aligned, possibly get backed too. The creators of Birdie Pro (previously Canairi), an air monitor currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, have exactly that kind of story.
The brainchild of co-founders Andreas Sørensen and Hans Augustenborg, Birdie Pro is the successor (or rather an upgrade) to the Canairi air monitor, which landed on Kickstarter in 2023. Andreas and Hans were not a particularly recognizable pair of designers, nor did they have any angel investors behind them. What they did have, however, was an idea, one they called Canairi.
Interestingly, Birdie is the brand name, while the product they originally sought crowdfunding for was the Canairi air monitor, which, according to the brand, was “inspired by the old method of using canaries to measure toxic air in coal mines.”
To put that into context, coal miners would bring canaries down into the mines, and when a bird fainted, it was a signal that the air quality was no longer safe to breathe, meaning it was time to get out. Both the Canairi and the Birdie Pro operate on that same principle.
Contrary to modern-day air monitors, Birdie Pro does not rely on beeps, alerts, or notification banners to get its message across. Instead, it speaks a much simpler language. Shaped like a bird, it physically collapses when the air quality in your space deteriorates, and it will not stand upright until you open a window and clear things up. But how does it work?
The answer lies in what lies inside the hardware. Back in 2022, the Canairi air monitor featured a built-in CO2 sensor that continuously measured air quality and physically tipped the unit over when a space became stale, and ventilation was needed.
Birdie Pro takes this philosophy a step further by packing in not one or two, but a bunch of sensors. The upgraded air quality monitor can now detect CO2, temperature, humidity, pollen, and AQI, delivering all the data and metrics directly to your smartphone over a companion app.
Unlike its predecessor, which was purely a hardware device, Birdie Pro now pairs with an intuitive app that makes the invisible even more visible. Like the original, Birdie Pro is made from recycled plastic and comes with a wall mount and a rechargeable battery that lasts up to three months before needing a USB charge.
It currently supports Home Assistant and Homey, with more ecosystem integrations planned for the future. Those interested can pre-order the Birdie Pro for $199 on Kickstarter.
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