4 Types of High-Tech Masks of the Future
Some innovative designs come with self-disinfecting UVC, transcribe your speech into text on your phone
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic on a global scale has completely changed the perception of humans about the use of masks. The image of a person wearing a mask 24/7 in public places is easily caught recently.
Grasping that demand, mask manufacturers have researched, improved, and came up with high tech masks that will make you immediately think of science fiction movies.
1. Translation mask
A product of the Japanese tech company Donut Labs, C-Face looks like a normal mask but is made of white plastic. A special feature of this mask is that it can translate the text into 8 different languages, including English, Chinese, French, Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
The principle of operation of C-Face is to connect Bluetooth to the phone to amplify the voice or translate words into text messages.
The company is now planning to ship 5,000 masks to pre-orders in Japan in September for about $ 37 each. In addition, users also have to purchase translation apps on smartphones with a separate monthly fee.
2. Anti-virus mask
Before the severe spread of Covid-19, many manufacturers around the world embarked on the research of masks that were advertised to kill up to 99.99% of viruses and bacteria that could be reused.
For example, the Swiss manufacturer has successfully developed a three-layer Livinguard mask that can kill viruses by inactivating them.
Specifically, the material making up the Livinguard mask is applied high technology, acting as a positively charged magnet that attracts negatively charged bacteria, hence breaks down the bacteria’s cell wall which falls out during cleaning.
Livinguard is declared to be used up to 210 times in a 7-day washing cycle. Each mask is priced between $25 and $40
Another product is SonoMask from Israeli manufacturer. Although having only two sides, this mask is covered by zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) with ultrasonic technology. The retail price of each SonoMask is 69 USD / item with reusable capacity after 90 washings.
Most recently, a Portuguese company has successfully developed a mask called MOxAd-Tech with the same function but the price is only 10 USD / item.
3. See-through masks
Good-looking people may feel uncomfortable because their face is covered when wearing a mask. An American medical device manufacturer understood this issue and created Leaf Mask, an invisible mask or see-through mask.
This product is advertised to meet US FDA standards with HEPA filter capable of filtering up to 99.97% fine dust of 0.3-micron size (equivalent to N95 standard) and self-cleaning ability by sterilization technology UV rays.
The material that makes Leaf Mask is an optically transparent silicone rubber, which is 100% recycled.
However, the price of a mask of this type is not cheap at all, up to 49 USD (HEPA technology only) and 89 USD (HEPA + UV).
4. Self-cleaning masks
Professor Yair Ein-Eli of the Israel Institute of Technology is also working on a new type of self-cleaning facemask.
The mask looks like any N95 one except for a USB port for the power source and carbon fibers that heat up to 65 to 70 degrees Celsius to kill germs. A 15-to-30-minute heating cycle is sufficient to clean the mask.
Testing shows that the mask can be used after about 20 times of charging, but it will not be available in the market soon because researchers only filed a patent in March 2020. The estimated selling price of this mask maybe $ 1 higher than that of regular masks.
