To add to its range of home air purifiers products, LG has announced the release of a portable, battery operated air purifier that people can wear like a mask. The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier has a pair of replaceable filters together with battery-powered fans that helps the wearer breathe. The fan’s speed is adjustable and it has sensors that can detect when the person is inhales or exhales. The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier will be shown at the IFA Berlin exhibition next week.
The Verge: LG’s wearable air purifying face mask that is designed to replace home-made and disposable masks
The Verge correspondent Jon Porter shares LG’s new portable air purifier that you wear on your face like a mask. The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier uses a pair of replaceable filters similar to what you’d find in LG’s range of air purifiers for the home, pairing them with battery-powered fans to help you breathe. LG says the device has sensors to detect when you’re breathing in or out, and adjusts the fans’ speeds accordingly.
LG doesn’t explicitly mention the COVID-19 pandemic, but it heavily implies that the mask was developed in response to it. The company says the wearable air purifier is designed to replace the “inconsistent” homemade masks worn by some people, as well as the disposable masks that it says have been in short supply.
When LG first announced the mask back in July and said it would be donating 2,000 of the devices to a university hospital in Seoul, one executive from the company said they hoped it would help medical staff “amid the protracting COVID-19 pandemic,” The Korea Herald reported. They hoped it would make it easier for medical staff to wear a mask for hours at a time.
However, LG’s press release doesn’t make any claims about the mask slowing the spread of the coronavirus, including whether it filters air as you exhale as well as inhale, The Verge further reports.
