CHINESE tech company Huami, known for its Amazfit wearables, is working on a transparent N95 face mask that can also clean itself.

Many cities already require their citizens to wear masks in public and major airlines announced they will soon make them mandatory on flights. Face masks will become a part of our new normal. In addition, the shortages of N95 and surgical masks (reserved for healthcare workers) have forced most people to resort to cloth masks.

But while these types of mask do help contain the virus, they have significant shortcomings. They don’t filter out small air particles containing the virus, they have to be washed properly on a regular basis and they’re not well ventilated. They also make it impossible to unlock your phone with facial recognition.

Huami hopes to solve most of these problems with the Amazfit Aeri mask. It comes with removable air filters and will have built-in ultraviolet light emitters. By plugging the mask into a USB-C plug for a few minutes, it can disinfect itself after every use. This would allow each filter to be effective for one and a half months, according to a Huami spokesperson. That’s much longer than the current eight hours N95 masks are good for.

The Aeri mask would also be made with transparent anti-fog material so that enough of your facial features would be visible to unlock your phone. And the modular design would allow it to house different accessories like an eye shield or a fan.

(SD-Agencies)