人気ブログランキング | 話題のタグを見る

Razer’s new Zephyr ‘smart mask’ is a glowing vision of a cyberpunk future

Razer’s new Zephyr ‘smart mask’ is a glowing vision of a cyberpunk future

Razer, the computer company best known for its RGB lighting, announced a smart mask at the beginning of the year called ‘Project Hazel’. Today this concept came to fruition with a new name: the Zephyr.Get more news about Glowing Mask Glowing Glasses,you can vist our website!

The Razer Zephyr features two N95 filters, one on each side, and a passive filter on the bottom that are changed my removing the magnetically-attached plastic covers. It has a transparent outer shell, and internal lighting to make it easier to see people’s lips. There are two-speed fans, controlled by a companion app or the power button on the right-hand chamber and, of course, some customizable external lights.

For the past two years, during the pandemic, most people have worn the smaller cloth masks, and the move to a larger N95 mask – especially a larger, premium one like this – does feel akin to walking around as Mad Max’s Immortan Joe. But it’s an upgrade that experts say could be necessary for everyone to take on the new variants of the coronavirus and perhaps protect against air pollution.Razer’s reasoning for building what it calls the “world’s smartest mask” is curt and corporate: “Many suffered due to the shortage of equipment to combat this pandemic”, the company says. “We saw and acted on this opportunity to bring innovation into a space that has by and large been void of technology”.

In the real world, wearing the mask feels like a statement, moreso than wearing a cloth one or a less conspicuous filter mask. It’s a little like how I imagine the first proponents of Google Glass must have felt: “I know something about the future that you don’t”. It’s hard to say whether a smart mask is more dystopian, more cyberpunk, or less, compared to Glass.

The Zephyr feels like Razer’s attempt to get in on the ground floor, using its technological capabilities to make masks both a fashion icon (a trend that had already begun due to mass pollution) and a visible ad for the company with its iconic light effects. If tomorrow holds smart glasses and smart clothes, why not smart masks too?

I also never had that same intensity of conviction about smart masks that Glass wearers must have done, partly because of professional scepticism but also because it is big and bulky. Most people will want to stash the mask, when they’re not wearing it, in a bag or rucksack rather than wear it uncomfortably around their neck. I had to make a certain amount of preparation to wear a mask which, by definition, makes it feel unnatural.
Razer claims the mask filters out 95 per cent of particles, although there does not appear to be clear evidence of this on the company’s website currently. In contrast, a tightly woven cloth mask with at least two layers can achieve somewhere around 40 to 80 per cent filtration efficiency, Dr Miranda Loh, an exposure scientist and head of environmental and public health at the Institute of Occupational Medicine told The Independent, but emphasised that “no matter how effective at filtration the material a mask is made out of, if the fit is poor, the mask will not achieve a high level of protection.”

Having worn the Zephyr for a week while walking and on public transport, it is generally comfortable and its adjustable strap fits around the head well. The silicone cup has a tight, but not pressurizing, seal, and anecdotally it does make a difference breathing in places like the London Underground – which historically has had “dangerously high” levels of pollution.

With regards to the other features, the external lights are neat and can cycle between a rainbow of colours or two shades for a ‘breathing’ effect – but much like light-up computers and mice are only as compelling as the wearer thinks they are.

The internal light does make it easier to communicate (and hopefully future Zephyrs could have a dedicated button to activate it) and could be helpful to deaf people who have had trouble lipreading others or reading facial cues from people wearing conventional masks.


by freeamfva | 2023-04-24 16:10 | Comments(0)

freeamfva


by freeamfva