Dyson has launched a new pair of headphones that double up as an air purifier. The Dyson Zone is the company’s first wearable and is slated to launch between September and December 2022. The new Dyson Zone is an over-ear headphone that comes with features like noise cancellation support. It also has a non-contact visor that ensures purified airflow near the nose and mouth.
Dyson stated that it took over six years and more than 500 prototypes to develop the new Dyson Zone. The final product has compressors in each earcup that draw air through the dual-layer filters and project two streams of purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth, channelled through the non-contact visor. Sculpted returns on the visor ensure purified airflow is kept near to the nose and mouth and diluted as little as possible by external crosswinds.
Dyson engineers used a breathing manikin fitted with medical-grade mechanical lungs and sensing equipment, which ‘inhales’ pollution replicating human breathing patterns in a controlled chamber. They then measure the pollution level within the nose and throat to determine the filtration efficacy of those particles which would otherwise end up in the artificial lung. The compressors within the earcups draw air through the dual-layer filters. It also comes with negatively-charged electrostatic filter media that captures minute particles such as allergens, and particles from sources such as brake dust, industry combustion and construction.
The Dyson Zone is claimed to deliver rich, immersive audio and relief from unwanted city noise, with features like advanced active noise cancelling (ANC), low distortion and a neutral frequency response to replicate music or audio as the creator intended.
To keep the weight under check, the Dyson Zone is engineered to distribute weight over the sides of the head, rather than on the top. The cushion on the earcups is flatter than conventional ear cushions for both attenuation and comfort. They are also angled in line with the angle of the ear on the head for optimal comfort.
Dyson stated that the air-purifying headphones will be available starting Autumn 2022, which is between September and December. The timings will vary by geography. We can expect the aid-purifying headphones to debut in India later this year.
