Dyson has taken its first step into wearable technology, with an eye-catching pair of over-ear headphones that come with an air-purifying mouth visor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Best known for vacuum cleaners, Dyson has diversified in recent years with products such as fans and a hairdryer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The headphones – dubbed Dyson Zone – are designed to tackle the growing issue of air pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One reviewer said they would definitely “turn heads in the street”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britta O’Boyle, deputy editor at gadget publication Pocket-lint, wrote: “Their design is certainly eye catching.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sound quality was “excellent”, she told the BBC News, and the headphones had a “lovely construction”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as she had been unable to test the product outdoors, she could not say how effectively it would purify air or “how silly you feel wearing it”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The headphones go on sale in the autumn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We don’t expect them to be cheap,” O’Boyle added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global problem
The noise-cancelling headphones come with a motor, fan and air filters in each ear cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air is sucked through the filters, capturing allergens and pollutants such as nitrogen and sulphur dioxide and brake dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this purified air is then channelled to the nose and mouth via the visor, which is magnetically attached to the bottom of the headphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is 97% effective at getting clean air to the lungs, the company says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Track breathing
There are four purification modes, depending on whether the wearer is walking down a street or sitting down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The headphones use sensors to track breathing and exertion and then toggle between modes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They also come with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
an app that lets users specify their location and determines when the filter needs replacing
a face covering comes that slots into the visor
The product has four hours’ battery life in low-filtration mode, according to Pocket-lint, or 1.5 hours in high filtration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Fresh air’
Chief engineer Jake Dyson said: “Air pollution is a global problem – it affects us everywhere we go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Dyson Zone purifies the air your breathe on the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“And unlike face masks, it delivers a plume of fresh air without touching your face, using high-performance filters and two miniaturised air pumps.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The non-contact aspect was a “must” for the designers, to avoid discomfort and irritation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was also a first foray into audio for Dyson engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dyson Zone has been six years – and 500 prototypes – in the making<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Originally, a snorkel-like mouthpiece was paired with a backpack holding the motor and inner workings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Verge called the finished product “bizarre”, stressing it was not an early April Fool’s joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“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,” it wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gadget publication Stuff.tv called it “the wildest gadget we’ve ever tried”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And tech website Cnet said it looked “like something you’d see in a dystopian sci-fi movie”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dyson has taken its first step into wearable technology, with an eye-catching pair of over-ear headphones that come with an air-purifying mouth visor. Best known for vacuum cleaners, Dyson has diversified in recent years with products such as fans and a hairdryer. The headphones – dubbed Dyson Zone – are designed to tackle the growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n