Air. I love it, you love it. We’re all here walking around in there all day, filling our lungs and blood with that stuff. We can’t have enough of it. But the beautiful, wonderful, life-saving atmosphere that you, me, and your pet chinchilla all need is bad at times. That’s right. The very air we rely on is sometimes filled with bad, small things. There’s nothing better than flying into your nose and wreaking havoc on your soft, unprotected insides.
Over the past two years, air purifiers have seen a spike in sales in the US, starting with a 57% increase in 2020. The pandemic, along with phenomena like the California wildfires, have brought causing many people to install filters in their homes and offices. All the while, the engineers at Dyson kept asking themselves one important question: What if we figured out how to stick a filter on people’s faces? In a world where mask-wearing has become the norm, perhaps that’s not the hardest question?
Probably.
Image credits: Dyson
The Dyson Zone is a monster. It features many of the design highlights of Dyson’s much-loved product, with the decisive (and insignificant) difference being that it’s designed to be worn on the wearer’s face. Or, more precisely, I suppose, put on a pair of headphones and put it over their mouth. Honestly, the basic form factor most closely resembles a football helmet.
According to the company, the final product will arrive after 500 prototypes within six years. Dyson says:
Originally a snorkel-like clean air breathing tube paired with a backpack to keep the engine and workings inside, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones have evolved dramatically in six years of development. More than 500 prototypes have seen an original motor placed at the nape of the neck become two compressors, one in each ear cup, and the evolution of the snorkel into an effective, non-contact visor that provides clean air without full face contact – a brand new clean air delivery mechanism.
Image credits: Dyson
The removable visor shoots a pair of filtered air into the user’s mouth and nose without direct contact with the face. It is designed to filter out allergens, pollutants and other particles. Dyson does not make any claims here about the Zone’s ability to filter out infectious diseases like COVID. Instead, the product has an attachment that allows the user to wear a face covering next to the product. The headphones have three noise-cancelling modes, and the front has four air-filter settings.
No exact pricing and availability yet – which is too bad, because I really want to know how long this thing will run. All in all, it should arrive in select markets at some point this fall. More information on all of that is promised in the coming months.
