Dyson unveils air-purifying mask and noise-cancelling headphones

The Dyson Zone is a wearable purifier, capturing city pollution including gas, allergens and particulate matter while cancelling unwanted noise

The Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones simultaneously tackle the urban issues of air quality and noise pollution.

Ever the pioneers in groundbreaking technology and inventive devices Dyson has just announced the launch of the Dyson Zone — air-purifying headphones — the company’s first step into wearable technology that delivers pure air and pure audio.

Designed to deal with urban pollution — both atmospheric and aural (notably high in densely populated cities) — the Dyson Zone is a wearable purifier, capturing city pollution including gas, allergens and particulate matter and cancelling unwanted noise with advanced noise cancellation (ANC) and pure, hi-fi audio.

The strange-looking device consists of a set of large can headphones with a lower face visor — not too unlike the lower part of a motocross biker's helmet.

Dyson Zone Dyson engineers used a breathing manikin, whom they named Frank, fitted with medical-grade mechanical lungs and sensing equipment, which ‘inhales’ pollution replicating human breathing patterns in a controlled chamber.

Given that most of the world’s population have taken to wearing masks over the last two years to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the device may not be as outlandish as it previously has been perceived.

The result of over a decade of air quality research and development, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones simultaneously tackle the urban issues of air quality and noise pollution.

According to chief engineer Jake Dyson: “Air pollution is a global problem — it affects us everywhere we go. In our homes, at school, at work and as we travel, whether on foot, on a bike or by public or private transport. The Dyson Zone purifies the air you breathe on the move.” 

Dyson says that unlike face masks, the device delivers a plume of fresh air, without touching the user’s face, using high-performance filters and two miniaturised air pumps.

“After six years in development, we’re excited to deliver pure air and pure audio, anywhere,” Jake Dyson said.

The Zone is a set of noise-cancelling, hi-fi over-ear headphones which simultaneously deliver immersive sound to the ears, and purified airflow to the nose and mouth.

As the world’s urban population continues to grow, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that nine in 10 people globally breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline pollutant limits.

They say that although nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution in cities decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic, levels have quickly returned to normal, or exceeded pre-pandemic levels across many global cities.

Traffic fumes in Dublin city centre are pushing pollution levels close to breaching safety limits, the largest ever test of air quality has found.

Some of the hundreds of prototypes of the Dyson Zone in development at Dyson's R&D labs

The Zone headphones are borne of Dyson’s 30 years of expertise in airflow, filtration and motors technologies and deep understanding of indoor and outdoor air quality.

The device 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.

The Zone also delivers rich, immersive audio and relief from unwanted city noise thanks to advanced ANC, low distortion, and a neutral frequency response, to faithfully replicate music or audio.

Originally a snorkel-like clean air mouthpiece paired with a backpack to hold the motor and inner workings, the Zone as it is now evolved dramatically over its six years in development.

Going beyond existing testing methods, Dyson engineers used a breathing manikin, whom they named Frank, 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 Frank’s artificial lung.

Precision-engineered compressors within the earcups draw air through the dual-layer filters, designed to fit within the considerable space constraints of a headphone. Negatively charged electrostatic filter media captures ultrafine particles such as allergens, and particles from sources such as brake dust, industry combustion, and construction whilst a potassium-enriched carbon layer captures city gas pollutants like NO2 and sulphur dioxide (SO2).

The compressor channels the purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth via the contact-free visor, formed with flexible returns that to channel the flow of purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth.

For first foray into the world of audio, Dyson’s team of audio engineers and acousticians sought to engineer excellent audio led by metrics, backed up with extensive listening trials to deliver pure, rich audio and advanced noise cancellation.

Dyson Zone Testing the device in the acoustic chamber.

Despite the space constraints inherent with a wearable device, Dyson engineers developed a high performing neodymium electroacoustic system within each earcup. A wide frequency response, precise left-right balance and distortion significantly below what can be detected by the human ear, offer a faithful reproduction as the musicians or creators intended.

Through solving a problem of Dyson’s own creation, the engineers have developed an advanced noise cancellation system.

Together, the device’s passive attenuation and the ANC, with its unique array of microphones, reduce unwanted environmental noise and motor tones to provide advanced noise cancellation at home, at work and on-the-go.

Large, angled ear cushions mould around the listener’s ear, with a foam density and headband clamp force engineered specifically for both comfort and optimal noise reduction.

As Dyson’s first wearable, the engineers had to think about comfort in a new way so they took inspiration from the shape and design of a horse’s saddle, the Zone is engineered to distribute weight over the sides of the head, rather than on the top.

A saddle typically curves over the horse’s spine distributing the load through contact with the areas left and right of the backbone – a format used for the central cushion on the headband.

The development of the ear cushions is important for three reasons: comfort, on-head stability, and passive attenuation.

The cushion is purposefully flatter than conventional ear cushions for both attenuation and comfort, and the cushions are angled in line with the angle of the ear on the head for optimal comfort.

No pricing or details on availability have been announced yet but the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones will be available online and in-store at Dyson Demo Stores and Dyson.ie.