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A tech team from Chongqing municipality has invented what it claims to be the world's first wearable air purifier, China.org reported.
Xu Zongyan, the team's head, said that the device can purify as much as 99.9 percent of PM2.5, a main air pollutant, and 90 percent of formaldehyde.
The gadget takes the form of a headset and has an attached air outlet that leads to the area below the nose. Its filter cartridge can be washed, thus doing away with replacement.
Xu said that the device's design is in part an answer to risks of secondary pollution that smog masks pose and their wearers' difficulty to breathe with them, along with their unappealing appearance.
"Thus we reduce face coverage to the absolute minimum," Xu said.
The device provides a constant air volume that can reach three cubic meters per hour, or twice the amount of air inhaled when breathing.
It can also be used to test air quality, which wearers can monitor real-time using an accompanying app. Furthermore, it can control household air purifiers and conditioners.
Currently, the wearable's battery can last six hours, but the inventors are looking to extend battery life to 10 hours.
The team is currently looking for investors to help them with the device's mass production.
