A Dutch artist and designer has come up with a device he hopes will suck pollutants from Beijing 's smog-cloaked skies , creating columns of clean air for the city 's surgical-mask wearing residents . An electromagnetic field generated by copper coils will pull airborne particles in the smog to the ground where they can be easily cleaned . `` It 's like when you have a balloon which has static ( electricity ) and your hair goes toward it . Same with the smog , '' says artist Daan Roosegaarde . His studio has reached an agreement with the Beijing government to test the technology in one of the capital 's parks . With its skies regularly shrouded by filthy gray smog , Beijing this week unveiled a series of emergency measures to tackle the problem . Roosegaarde says an indoor prototype has already proven it works and is confident the results -- with the help of a team of scientists and engineers -- can be replicated outside : . `` Beijing is quite good because the smog is quite low , it 's in a valley so there 's not so much wind . It 's a good environment to explore this kind of thing . '' `` We 'll be able to purify the air and the challenge is to get the top of the smog so you can see the sun again . '' Roosegaarde acknowledges that projects like this are a way of drawing attention to the problem , rather than a viable solution to Beijing 's dire air pollution . `` This is not the real answer for smog . The real answer has to do with clean cars , different industry and different lifestyles . '' However , he hopes the project will make a `` radical statement '' by allowing the city 's residents to realize the difference between breathing clean and smog-filled air . `` I want to take a park in Beijing , 50m by 50m square , and make it the cleanest park in Beijing , '' he says . He is still discussing with local authorities which park will be used . Roosegaarde 's studio has worked on several projects that use static electricity in unusual ways ; creating a road that charges electric cars and a floor that generates electricity when danced on .
Dutch artist and designer has come up with a device that aims to suck pollutants from air . Technology will be tested in a Beijing park . Project aims to draw attention to smog rather than provide long-term solution .