New release “Zone”
Fresh air and clear sound: Dyson’s bizarre breathing mask is also a headphone
Dyson’s Zone mask filters air
© Dyson / Manufacturer
Find peace and take a deep breath, wearers of the new Dyson Zone should be able to do that at any time on the go. But the bizarre mixture of breathing mask and headphones should not protect against prying eyes – on the contrary.
Creating a personal space in the big city is not easy. But the solution from Dyson’s air experts is likely to cause most people to shake their heads in irritation: As the name suggests, the Dyson Zone is intended to represent the private space to wear. And it looks pretty bizarre.
Because the Zone combines two products that you would actually not think of together: It consists of a filter mask for breathing air and noise-cancelling headphones. And with its chunky design, it is also a striking eye-catcher.
Dyson fans on the go
Even if the reference to Corona for a filter mask may be obvious, the reason for the development was not the pandemic. According to Dyson, it has been working on the zone for six years, the complex ventilation system with small fans is – as usual from Dyson – high engineering. It’s essentially one of the company’s air filtration systems in a portable form. The mask sucks in outside air, cleans it of particles and pathogens with several filter systems and then passes it on as breathing air. The mask should be able to remove 99 percent of all particles from the air that are larger than a ten-thousandth of a millimeter.
In order to enable every wearer to breathe comfortably, the air circulation can be regulated in several stages, an automatic mode automatically adapts to the measured breathing rhythm.
Always innovative
The mask does not have to be worn all day either. Zone wears like regular headphones, with the air filter clipped on with magnets when needed. It can also be folded down from the face with hinges. Unlike a medical mask, Dyson’s high-tech model does not lie directly on the face, which should make it more comfortable, the first testers report. With an additional attachment, the Dyson Zone can also be locked to the outside according to the FFP-2 standard. The manufacturer estimates that the filters have to be replaced after about a year.
The headphones look much more traditional in comparison. Like the models from other manufacturers, the Zone offers several variants of noise cancellation, such as complete suppression and a transparency mode, which transmits external noise through microphones into the headphones, thus ensuring safety in traffic. Clever: If you fold the breathing filter away from your face, the headphones switch to conversation mode and cut the noise suppression. Dyson emphasizes that the sound was implemented as faithfully as possible to the original. Since these are the manufacturer’s first headphones, only tests should show how well this has worked.
Is the time ripe for high-tech masks?
The most exciting question is now: How is the product received by the customers? There is no doubt that there are also benefits outside of the pandemic. Air pollution is increasing worldwide, in countries like China or India smog is often an acute health hazard, and in many western cities more fresh air is also a welcome change. Whether you want to wear a gigantic mask on your face is another matter.
Tech companies seem to see a market for it. In addition to Dyson, LG, Razer and other companies such as rapper Will.i.am have also presented similar products to the public. So far, none have been able to celebrate real success. However, none of the masks available so far have headphones.