The Guardian

Samuel Gibbs, Consumer technology editor

Wed 30 Mar 2022

Dyson launches Zone air purifying Bluetooth headphones with

visor
Company’s first wearable delivers personal pocket of filtered air
and cancels unwanted noise

Air compressors in the ear cups drive purified air to the wearer’s mouth and nose via a clip-on visor,
which Dyson hopes buyers will wear while walking or riding public transport. Photograph: Dyson

Dyson has announced its first wearable product that builds the firm’s air purification
expertise into a set of Bluetooth noise cancelling headphones aimed at city dwellers
wanting to avoid polluted air.

Quite unlike anything the company has made before, the Dyson Zone is sure to draw
quizzical looks. It is a set of large, plush headphones with a plastic mask-type
contraption that connects from ear-to-ear across the wearer’s mouth and looks like
something out of a sci-fi movie.

It delivers purified air to the mouth and nose while simultaneously tackling noise
pollution through its active noise cancelling technology.

Chief engineer Jake Dyson said: “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. And unlike face masks, it delivers a plume of fresh air without touching your
face.”
The product took six years and 500 prototypes to develop into its final form, which while heavy for a set
of headphones attempts to balance the weight evenly across the head. Photograph: Dyson

The eyebrow-raising design has a motor, compressor fan and air purifying dual-layer
filter in each ear cup. The air is drawn through the filters cleaning it of 99% of
particles as small as 0.1 microns, including pollen, bacteria and dust, as well as gas
pollutants such as sulphur or nitrogen dioxide. The filtered air is then pushed along
the inside of a visor, which sits just in front of the mouth and nose without making
contact with the skin, creating a pocket of clean air for the wearer to breathe.

The headphones have sensors that detect how fast the wearer is moving,
automatically adjusting the airflow between three intensity levels to ensure they
deliver up to 5 litres of clean air a second, the equivalent breathing rate of a jog. An
air quality sensor in the left ear cup monitors real-time pollution levels sending the
data to an app on your phone and telling you when to replace the filters, which
should last for about 12 months of use in Europe or less in more polluted
environments.
The large headphones and visor across the face will stand out on the street and wouldn’t look out of
place in a sci-fi movie. Photograph: Dyson

The visor has size-adjustable arms and is attached to the headphones via magnets
that can be unclipped or unhinged so that it drops down to the wearer’s chin pausing
the fans to allow them to speak to others. Dyson also has an additional mask
attachment that sits between the visor and face, including a FFP2 filter, developed in
response to the masking requirements of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile active noise cancellation technology, similar to that found

in Bose, Sony and other headphones popular with commuters, uses microphones to
monitor the sound of the outside world and the spinning compressors either side of
the wearer’s head to remove it via anti-sound waves played into the ear cups. The
headphones can be used without purification by detaching the visor too.

The battery lasts up to 4.5 hours at the Zone’s lowest purification rate or 90 minutes
at maximum, intended to only be used for short periods. They last up to 40 hours
when used just as headphones, fast charge via USB-C to 60% in 20 minutes and can
be used when charging if required.
The Dyson Zone is due to go on sale in the Autumn for an as-yet unannounced
premium price expected to be in the £500 to £1,000 range .