Dyson, a company famed for producing luxury vacuum cleaners, hair dryers and air purifiers, has now entered the wearable market after unveiling a set of headphones with a visor that can filter air.
The 'Dyson Zone', which has reportedly been years in the making, features noise-cancelling capabilities for the headphones, with a removable visor that goes in front of your face.
It's here where the futuristic magic happens, as the visor/mask delivers purified air to the mouth and nose while filtering out the noise around you.
The radical design includes a motor, compressor fan and air-purifying dual-layer filter within both ear cups.
Chief engineer Jake Dyson said: “Air pollution is a global problem – it affects us everywhere we go. In our homes, at school, at work and as we travel, whether on foot, on a bike or by public or private transport.
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"The Dyson Zone purifies the air you breathe on the move. And unlike face masks, it delivers a plume of fresh air without touching your face.”
The BBC reports that the sophisticated visor started life as a 'snorkel-like mouthpiece', and that the product as a whole has gone through over 500 different prototype iterations.
In terms of battery life, the energy required to filter air consistently means users can expect 4.5 hours of life at the Zone's lowest purification rate, or just 90 minutes at maximum.
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On the plus side, with the filter system completely turned off, Dyson claims you can get up to 40 hours of listening time, which is double the life of Apple's AirPods Max.
However, they could also end up being double the price of Apple's answer to luxury listening, as The Guardian speculates the Dyson Zone will have a retail price in the range of £500-£1000 when it goes on sale in the Autumn.
However, before the price has even been announced, some tech reviewers have torn into the concept as a whole.
The Verge called the finished product 'bizarre', stressing it was not an early April Fool's joke.
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"While mask wearing has been normalised considerably over the past two years, we'll have to see whether customers will be willing to embrace this extremely odd-looking product," the review read.
Gadget publication Stuff.tv called it 'the wildest gadget we've ever tried,' while Techau.com asserted: "Dyson’s Air-Purifying Headphones may be the worst tech product in 2022."
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Topics: Technology, Coronavirus
Tom Fenton