LG’s battery-powered face mask will “make breathing effortless”

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  Pictured: Gotham's reckoning. [credit: LG ]

Big Tech is here to save us from COVID-19! With every responsible, compassionate person running around with a mask on nowadays, it seems inevitable that the phrase "wearable technology" will soon regularly include overly complicated high-tech face masks. One of the first major tech companies out of the gate with a questionably useful product is LG. The "LG PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier" is a battery-powered face mask that the company says will "supply fresh, clean air indoors and out."

The mask really is a tiny air purifier and features a fan+HEPA filter combo on the left and right side. A "patented Respiratory Sensor" detects "the cycle and volume of the wearer’s breath and adjusts the dual three-speed fans accordingly." The fans are supposed to automatically sync up with your breathing by speeding up when you inhale and slowing down when you exhale, which LG says will "make breathing effortless." (If your breathing is not currently effortless, please visit your healthcare provider and/or local COVID-19 testing center.)

The mask looks absolutely huge in LG's heavily photoshopped picture. LG says you can "wear the unit comfortably for hours on end" but that the 820mAh battery is only good for "eight hours of operation in low mode and two hours on high." There's no word on how much it weighs. When it does come time to recharge your face mask, the included case will also disinfect the mask somewhat with UV-LED lights. There's also an app—of course there's an app—that will alert you when the mask filters need to be replaced.

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