LG’s New Wearable Air Purifier Is the Face Mask of the Future

Wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 won’t impact your oxygen intake, but feeling like you’re inhaling stale air isn’t exactly fun. As Engadget reports, electronics company LG will soon debut a solution: the PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier, a face mask that ensures every breath of air is a fresh one.

The mask doesn’t just clean the air—it’s also designed to make breathing as easy as it is when you aren’t wearing a mask. The respiratory sensor tracks how fast you’re breathing and how much air you’re taking in, and the three-speed fans adjust their own pace accordingly. They spin faster when you inhale in order to deliver more air, and they decelerate when you exhale so you’re not struggling against the force of a fan every time you breathe out.

According to a press release, designers used “extensive facial shape analysis” to develop a mask that’s comfortable enough to wear for hours, but tight enough that it won’t let impure air sneak in through small gaps. Each charge will last you about eight hours in low mode and two hours in high mode, though LG hasn’t yet detailed the differences between the two settings. And while the mask is charging in its case, ultraviolet LED lights disinfect the entire outside. In other words, you’ll never have to remember to toss it in the washing machine or scrub it down with a sanitizer wipe. You will have to change the filters, but there’s a corresponding app that can tell you when to do that.

So where can you get LG’s latest feat of technology? Presumably online, but not quite yet; the company announced plans to release the mask in select markets sometime later this year.

[h/t Engadget]