Set to release this fall, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones took six years to engineer
This is not an April Fool’s joke—the Dyson Zone Air-Purifying Headphones are for real and will provide noise-canceling comfort with purified airflow. These headphones are meant to give the user an all-in-one package (or machine we would say) that combines both audio quality with a protection from pollutants.
This is the first effort into wearable electronics for Dyson, which are best known for their high-end vacuum cleaners. The Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones “simultaneously deliver immersive sound to the ears and purified airflow to the nose and mouth,” while dealing with the “urban issues of air quality and noise pollution”.
The visor, contrary to its appearance, does not make contact with the face like a mask usually would. Instead, the visor sits in front of the face and allows a bubble of pure air to form and collect in a gap and then become inhaled through. The visor is also attached to the headphones with a series of magnets and can be removed if the wearer only wants to use the Zone for audio. Hinges allow the user to talk with others without having to remove the entire set.
“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,” said Jake Dyson, Chief Engineer of Dyson and the son of the founder. “The Dyson Zone purifies the air you breathe on the move. And unlike face masks, it delivers a plume of fresh air without touching your face, using high-performance filters and two miniaturized air pumps. After six years in development, we’re excited to deliver pure air and pure audio, anywhere.”
According to the company, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones can filter up to 99 percent of particle pollution, however the filters aren’t reusable and must be replaced every year or so. Dyson states that the actual amount of time depends on how much pollution the user encounters and how actively they use the headphones.
In order to test the Zone, Dyson’s engineers developed Frank, a breathing mannequin built with medical-grade mechanical lungs and monitoring equipment that emulated human breathing patterns. The device measured “the filtration efficacy of those particles, which would otherwise end up in Frank’s artificial lung”. Per a Dyson representative, the mannequin was given the moniker Frank since it reminded the developers of Frankenstein.
Without a doubt, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones have been one of the most distinctive Dyson products we’ve come across. We still have to wait for pricing and a release date but we might first have to gauge whether or not customers are ready for this out of this world experience. Check out the full list of features below:
Key features of the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones
- Radical new format for delivering purified air and high-fidelity audio on-the-go
- Electrostatic filtration captures 99% of particle pollution as small as 0.1 micron, such as dust, pollen and bacteria
- Potassium-enriched carbon filter captures city gasses like NO2, SO2 and O3
- Contact-free air delivery visor channels two streams of purified air to the nose and mouth, engineered specifically for usage outdoors and in crosswinds
- The smallest in any Dyson machine to date, two motors sit in each ear cup and are the “beating heart” of the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones
- Advanced ANC and a high performing neodymium electroacoustic system deliver rich, immersive audio that faithfully replicates audio as the artist or creator intended
- 15 undergraduate students from the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology worked on the Dyson Zone project, supporting disciplines as diverse as acoustics development, electronics and airflow systems.
- 3 ANC modes: Isolation, Conversation and Transparency
- Isolation mode: Highest level of active noise cancellation
- Conversation mode: Activates when you dip the visor –- automatically turns off the purification to conserve battery power and amplifies conversation
- Shipping fall 2022