On May 9, Fei Jun and his work “Oxygen Bubble.” The “Oxygen Bubble” is a transparent hemisphere that purifies air through cycling.
Get your feet moving—cycle to purify the air. This isn’t a pipe dream. When you see the string of small red lights inside the central transparent cylinder turn green, your purification effort has succeeded.
A year ago, two founders of the innovation platform Interactive Beijing, Fei Jun and Li Xinlu, had what sounded like a “pipe dream” conversation. After bouncing ideas around, they put their concept into action, giving birth to the Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble. This year, the project has caught the attention of businesses.
Two dreamers: A pipe dream
Fei Jun, an associate professor at the Digital Media Studio of the School of Design at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and one of the founders of the innovation platform “Interactive Beijing.” In his own words, he is an artist with a strong grassroots sensibility, drawn to bottom-up, even somewhat rough, ideas originating from the public. This personality clicked instantly with his artist friend Li Xinlu. Both were eager for art to participate in actions that could truly change lives and had long been thinking about designs that could make a real difference.
Last February, Fei Jun and Li Xinlu had a “dreamy” conversation.
Fei Jun, who had long been interested in fitness centers, had been thinking for some time about what could be done with them. Last year’s air pollution incidents drew widespread attention, and the two decided to do something related to air—because air is the only asset that cannot be privatized and is inherently public. As another co-founder of “Interactive Beijing,” Li Xinlu had mentioned that they needed wildly imaginative ideas but also ones with practical implementation potential.
Is it possible to purify air by cycling?
Years of sustained interest collided with a public issue, quickly producing a chemical reaction. Fei Jun and Li Xinlu called the final product of this brainstorming session the “Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble.” The principle is simple: use fitness bikes to generate electricity, send the power to a battery, and then supply it to a central air purifier to clean the air.
“Only an artist could come up with such an idea,” Fei Jun said. Whether this idea was truly feasible was beyond the scope of their knowledge—some questions couldn’t be answered, such as whether this method could generate enough electricity or how effective the air purification would be. At the time, the conversation felt a bit like a pipe dream.
The Big Bubble: Dream Realized
With the initial concept formed, around June last year, the two decided to start experimenting.
They sought help from many makers to conduct experiments, providing assistance beyond their own knowledge, including Intel Labs, which supplied them with air quality detectors.
After leveraging various social resources, the “Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble” was born, consisting of three major systems: a human-powered air purification system, a plant purification system, and a visualization system.
Stepping into the transparent big bubble, your eyes are met with lush greenery. This is the plant purification system. Designed based on a research report from NASA, the greenery includes three affordable and common plants: snake plants, bamboo palms, and pothos. Together, they produce fresh oxygen and purify the air.
Next come the yellow fitness bikes, a piece of equipment commonly found in almost every neighborhood. The difference is that these bikes have been modified—small generators have been added to the rear wheels and connected to a battery. The handlebars also feature three small screens displaying battery level, indoor PM2.5, and outdoor PM2.5 values.
When someone starts pedaling, the generator begins working, continuously producing electricity. The power is then sent to the central air purifier via the battery.
Since its creation, the Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble has been exhibited in many places.
From November last year to January this year, it was displayed on the large square of the Central Academy of Fine Arts for nearly two months, attracting many elderly locals and art students living nearby. Later, the elderly became regulars, coming daily to exercise inside the bubble.
Fei Jun carefully observed the participants and noticed an interesting phenomenon: the elderly easily understood the bubble’s principle, while many art students seemed puzzled. “Why don’t you get it? Let me explain,” the elderly would sometimes say, eagerly stepping in to act as volunteer guides when they saw students struggling to understand.
New Dream: Virtual “Green Coins”
But Fei Jun and Li Xinlu’s creative ideas didn’t stop at the Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble.
“We hope to turn this solution into a sustainable and valuable one,” Fei Jun explained. In random interviews, he found that no one would deny the positive impact of green behavior, but most people still went back to their old habits after saying the right things—because there was no incentive. By linking incentives with lifestyle guidance, real change could be achieved.
Thus, the concept of virtual currency—Green Coins—was born.
“We want to influence lifestyles with the concept of Green Coins, making green behavior cool and fashionable.” In Fei Jun’s vision, Green Coins could be earned through green actions. Not only would you exercise and get fresh air, but you’d also gain something tangible. For example, cycling on the fitness bike in the bubble for 10 minutes could earn you one Green Coin, which might be equivalent to 200 points—redeemable for a free parking voucher or a cup of coffee. “By rewarding your green behavior in real life, we’re encouraging public participation.”
Green Coins aren’t just talk. Promoting the “Green Coin” concept is Fei Jun’s biggest dream this year, and he plans to systematize it. Fei Jun revealed that an agreement has been largely reached with Joy City to bring the Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble and Green Coin concept there, though the specific timing is still under discussion. Beyond Joy City, many real estate developers, fitness centers, and companies have shown interest in the Eco Smart Oxygen Bubble.
During continuous exhibitions, many ideas have come from the public. For instance, some hope to install the bubble system on their balconies, while companies want to bring it into offices, connecting office fitness equipment with vending machines so employees can earn a free cola after cycling for a set time. These ideas are all feasible—with agreements, of course, with the relevant vending machine companies.
Fei Jun has even bolder ideas about making all green behaviors convertible. In the future, any eco-friendly actions people take—such as buying environmentally friendly furniture or adopting green transportation methods—can be recorded and converted into "green coins." This can be achieved through new technologies like smart wristbands. These green coins could then be used on a dedicated consumption platform he plans to build. Alternatively, partnerships with platforms like Taobao could allow users to spend green coins when purchasing designated products.
In Fei Jun's view, all of this could definitely become a reality in the future.
The working principle of Oxygen Bubble’s human-powered air purification system
● Pedaling a fitness bike manually
● The rotation of the rear wheel drives a generator to produce electricity
● The electricity is transmitted via wires into a storage battery
● The battery powers the air purifier
● A light bulb connected to an air quality monitor changes color from red to green, indicating cleaner air