Most masks feel awful. LG breathable mask may eventually change it

Masks have become a popular product as COVID-19 continues to spread in the United States. We have seen a mask It’s cheap.. A mask Reusable And easy to sterilize. And even a mask that allows you Drink.. But slowly, big consumer technology companies Is realized We are starting to introduce a new wave of innovative masks with the potential market potential and the same attractive features as the essential gadgets on the market.

Case in point: LG has unveiled a new mask that solves one of the biggest problems of any mask, the ability to breathe freely. The PuriCare wearable air purifier is a small, battery-powered HEPA filter that literally fits your face.

For your stock N95 mask 3M is a polymer molded product. It uses the power of the lungs to inhale and exhale air through a filter, like a vacuum cleaner. This means that your lungs will have difficulty breathing and you will be tired of wearing them for long periods of time. And it’s also hot. Even cotton masks, which offer a lower level of protection, are still stuffy to wear.

Precare, meanwhile, promises “easy” breathing while protecting you from viral particles in the air. How does the mask work? Onboard sensors track your breathing cadence and volume. These sensors control two fans. The fan is faster when it draws in, drawing in air through a small HEPA filter. With a built-in rechargeable battery, the mask can be used for up to 8 hours of low level breathing assistance or 2 hours of high level breathing assistance. It’s hard to know if the mask still feels hot, and how comfortable the breathing assistance provided by the low fan speeds will be. Anyway, the whole idea reminds me a lot Auxiliary pedal pedal, But for your face.

When LG finished wearing the mask, UV sterilization Carrying case that automatically cleans the mask between uses. The filter will eventually need to be replaced, so the connected smartphone app will tell you when and LG is ready to sell a new filter.

Will HEPA filters work for COVID-19? The simple answer is “yes” and when it comes to pure filtering capabilities, Better than N95.. In fact, HEPA filters are used in hospital grade PPE. PAPR (Electric air cleaning mask). Like LG’s mask, PAPR uses a motor to pump air through the HEPA filter to the wearer. However, PAPR generally requires that you wear a large belted filter box and connect it to a large tube that leads to your head helmet. LG basically took the whole idea of ​​PAPR and reduced it to a face mask.

Of course, the idea looks perfect on paper, but many end up in the exact ergonomic details of the design. The mask fits most faces perfectly. Do you really have a N95 airtight seal? How much can those fans help? Is breathing really easy enough? And how much does this mean? Especially if the straps go around the ears-rather than distributing the weight behind the head-it’s a shame if the LG only makes breathing easier and makes other parts of the body extremely uncomfortable.

You may want to hear more at the IFA trade show in early September, including device pricing and worldwide availability. LG can then wait to share details of its January Consumer Electronics Show (CES) every January with availability, especially in the United States.

In fact, every year, CES seems to have at least one notable trend that is tracked by all companies. It was a digital photo frame for a year. Another year was 4K TV. Another year was that all random toasters had Amazon Alexa integration.. COVID-19 shows no signs of slowing down in the US before winter, so don’t be surprised if LG is simply One of the first We’ll show you what it can build for the marketplace that values ​​COVID-19 masks as safe and comfortable as new TVs, refrigerators and smart speakers. Perhaps it sounds like a boring year before us. But frankly, some of these companies were just beginning to focus on building what really matters.