Wearing a face mask in public has gone from a peculiar sight to an everyday occurrence in the past two years, but people may still not be ready for Dyson’s latest invention.
The company, better known for bagless vacuum cleaners and hand dryers, has unveiled a headset designed to purify the air and protect the user from pollution. The device, called the Zone, doubles as a pair of headphones and filters micro particles out of the air through a visor that covers much of the face including the mouth and nose.
The company says the device removes 99pc of particles before creating a pocket of clean air to breathe. Dyson has not claimed that the system removes coronavirus particles as they travel through the air, having not tested the headset using the virus.
Instead, it is aimed at the nine in 10 people around the world estimated to breathe air exceeding World Health Organisation pollution limits. Last week, Londoners were warned to limit their exercise outside due to high levels of particle pollution in the capital.
The device doubles as a set of noise-cancelling wireless headphones, which the company says can help cut down on noise pollution.
Dyson has not put a price on the Zone, which it says will be released in autumn, but high-end wireless headphones on their own typically cost hundreds of pounds.
It can deliver up to 2.5 litres of air a second, compared to about 0.5 litres that the average human takes in each breath, with the fastest mode designed for elevated intake when exercising.
The company said it had designed the motors in the device, the smallest to feature in a Dyson product, to be practically silent. Its battery will last for four and a half hours at the lowest setting and 90 minutes in “high flow” mode.