A smog-detecting gadget called the Laser Egg has sold out in Beijing. The gadget, which is the size of a large orange, can be used at home, in the car, or anywhere where air pollution is a concern.

Laser Egg joins a booming market of devices that measure indoor air quality, which can vary widely between rooms in the same building. Its stylish design and price tag of $79 have made it more popular than wonky-looking, lab-style particle counters.

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A rechargeable battery powers the Laser Egg which sucks in air through a small vent and then through a laser beam that refracts when it hits pollution particles. A sensor measures the refractions. It will have a result that is a digital readout of 0 to 500 on the standard Air Quality Index (AQI).

An app should be installed on the user's cellphones to monitor multiple Eggs, to track the data over time, and to send an alert if the air starts getting worse.

27-year-old Swiss expatriate Liam Bates is the Laser Egg inventor. He envisions compiling data from thousands of Eggs online to tell people which restaurants and shops have the best air and which should be avoided. He speaks Mandarin fluently and used to work in a Chinese television station.

Bates got interested in tracking pollution after his wife Jessica Lam was relocated from Canada to Beijing and developed asthma symptoms. The couple eventually began researching on air-purifying machines.                

The couple started their own company Origins Technology in 2014 when they were unsatisfied with the available options. The Laser Egg and an air purifier OxyBox worth $700 were their first products that went on sale last summer and are both made in China with components from around the world.

Demand started soaring in late November when Beijing's AQI went deep into hazardous territory. Just last week that the city authorities took the unprecedented step of issuing a second red alert for the city. A hand-lettered cardboard sign "Laser Egg Sold Out" was written on the red double doors at the company headquarters. The company will start filling its back orders this early January.

Tagslaser egg, oxybox, Beijing Air Pollution, Beijing Pollution, Beijing Air Quality, laser egg technology, China Air Pollution