LG unveiled its new PuriCare ™ Wearable Air Purifier on Thursday, essentially putting one of LG’s home air purifiers on your face. The device looks like something George Jetson might wear if he fell into bad timeline — with climate change-fueled fires, militarized police tear-jerking peaceful Protestants, and a worldwide pandemic of respiratory disease.
LG calls the battery-powered device a “new category of wearable air purifier technology” because it uses two H13 HEPA filters and offers the user significant protection against dangerous particles in the air. The high-tech mask even adjusts the air intake based on the wearer’s breathing patterns.
“With its Dual Fans and patented Respiratory Sensor, LG users’ portable air purifier can take in clean, filtered air, while the Respiratory Sensor detects the cycle and volume of the wearer’s breath and adjusts the dual three-speed fans accordingly.” said LG in a press release published at night. “The fans automatically accelerate to help air intake and slow down to reduce resistance when exhaling to exhale difficulty.”
The only problem, like the Edge notes, is that the mask may not be a good choice in the coronavirus pandemic. One of the reasons that public health experts recommend masks is because it can help stop the spread of the virus by people who may not know they have the disease. Masks can protect the wearer of contracting covid-19, but the new mask from LG does not protect people around the wearer, and defeats the purpose of universal masking, especially if asymptomatic transmission is so common.
However, the new mask would theoretically be useful during the wildfire season, as it burns thousands of acres and now makes it dangerous to breathe in places like California. Last summer, the field fires in Australia were so bad that inside smoke detectors were dropped off in central Sydney. LG’s new mask would probably be a welcome addition in a scenario like that.
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How soon will it be available with this new LG mask and where can you buy it? That part is unclear. LG’s press release says it will be available in the “fourth quarter” in “selected brands.” We do not know if this includes the US at this point.
It does not even seem that LG has the trouble to put a working prototype on a human for its latest press release. The company uses a stock photo model and just photoshopped the mask on his face. This particular model seems to be a favorite for the technical audience. The last few years he has received in-ear headphones and has hawked private car services in Europe.
There were many possible futures we were promised in the 20th century. There was the jetpack future, de flying car future, de de robot butler future. Versions of utopia were always just around the corner. But we clearly got the dystopian future full anti-pollution personal wear, widespread panic, and a scenario where some of America’s largest cities are strive to survive.
Fortunately, we did not see nuclear apocalypse a permanent underground bunkers yet, but honestly that is always on the table, given the whole number hast mist we’ve had the past half century.
We might as well fit in with the dystopia we live in, with disaster around every corner. And we can not wonder whether the prevailing fashion trend of the 2020s will be a rich trend of dystopian tech in LG style. Maybe we should call it Immortan Jetson chic.
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