With masks becoming a way of life for the foreseeable future, a company has developed a smart mask that elevates your physical safety beyond simply protecting you from viral particles.
The Active+ mask by AirPop has a built in sensor monitoring the wearer's breathing and overall respiratory vitals so that when challenging your body to complete physical tasks with a mask on, such as exercising or walking your dog, you can rest assured you won't encounter difficulties. The mask also tests air quality for pollution.
The mask is billed as blocking up to 99% of nanoparticles and says that includes virus droplets containing COVID-19.
The mask hooks up to both iPhones and Android devices, using an app to display results. It also gives the user a notification when it is time to change the mask filter. The mask comes standard with four medical-grade filters. Each filter lasts 40 hours.
The mask is specifically designed to be used for "high intensity workouts, cycling and running," says the company.
The app has a customizable dashboard with real-time protection levels that tracks breathing by activity and location.
"Over time, it gets smarter if you opt in to share your modes of transport, routing and breathing behavior. We are one of the respiratory devices that work with Apple HealthKit, so you can track your breathing in iOS," AirPop says on its website.
The company was initially created in 2015 when its founder was living in China. His 2-year old and newborn were both suffering from serious environmental respiratory illnesses.