Interactive face mask

intro

I started looking for tutorials for making face masks a few weeks ago.

Not surprisingly...

The face mask in the Netherlands is not obligatory.

In other countries it is.

The main first goal for wearing the mask is protection.

The face mask as a product worn by people is having a great impact on the visual aspect of the face, which is one of the most expressive parts of the human being.

The mouth is invisible, you cannot see anymore if the person is smiling or getting angry, shouting, being cynical.

The "product" as being a visible item on the body also has it "fashionable" sides: https://www.labeledby.com, initiated by Marina Toeters in the "Fashion Technology Farm".

Both the Marina Toeters group and I and no doubt many others, are thinking on how e-textiles could be integrated inside the mask.

An early try out

A super simple sketch, to get some ideas about how this looks, and what the consequences might be.

There are two LED's (these "big" LED's), one red, one green, indicating infected or not. It could also indicate: green - I have had the disease, I am immune, red: I didn't get the infection yet.

Some questions:

• Technical: can we measure infection directly (no, virus is too small).
• Semiotics: Is the meaning of the "red" and "green" clear? (no as shown above, red can mean danger, I am sick, but also I am still not immune, quite ambiguous.
• Societal: if you are walking around with a mask with a red LED on, while you be lynched by a mob?
• Hygiene: the mask has to be changed and washed several times a day, what about the electronics?

product

The shape of the mask is interesting because this is for once NOT a box or rectangular. It should fit around our head and is in principle a single curved surface.

e-textiles

What are the possibilities thinking from e-textiles - which interactivity could be added.

Sensors

Probing the possibilities:

• temperature sensor - makes sense, although microcontroller temperature sensors cannot measure your temperature sufficiently accurate.
• gas/pollution sensor - makes sense, although your breath is usually having a higher CO2 rate.
• light sensor - what purpose?
• humidity - measuring the quality of your breath?
• air pressure - what purpose?

Connectivity

Bluetooth connection to your smart phone. The microcontroller in the mask can have information, for example from the apps tracing people and seeing if your were in contact with a person later to be identified as having the infection.

making folding

Many tutorials can be found (suddenly). This Japanese one is charming: Japanese handkerchief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGug3ZZPp_k

properties

There are many face masks or masks, from just a piece of cloth to very protective ones, with special filters, right through to the military masks, originating probably in WW1. In WW1 poisonous gas was released inside the tranches, leading to the most terrible wounds of the soldiers. Because they still used horses and donkeys, also these animals got masks.

We as civilians use fabric masks, the experts don't agree on the effectivity of fabric masks for protecting us against infection of COVID-19.

studies

Suddenly all kinds of studies can be found about the effectivity of face masks.

DIY

People are inventing very strange ways to protect themselves: https://www.sadanduseless.com/corona-virus-masks/

These ideas show really great resourcefulness and many ways to use materials in a "new" way.