Dyson debuts ‘Zone’ headphones with weird air-purifying visor

Dyson, the company best known for its vacuum cleaners and hair care products, has unveiled a futuristic take on headphones – complete with a weird-looking, air-purifying visor that’s already drawing comparisons to a certain comic book villain’s costume.

The ‘Dyson Zone’ are noise-cancelling headphones that also double as the company’s first ‘portable purifier’ capable of filtering out air pollution and allergens.

Dyson said so spent six years researching the system and developed more than 500 prototypes before it came to the final version.

“The result of over a decade of air quality research and development, Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones simultaneously address urban air quality and noise pollution concerns,” Dyson said in a press release.

The headset’s odd appearance immediately drew the attention of social media users – many of whom pointed out that it resembled the mask worn by Bane, the Batman villain portrayed by actor Tom Hardy in the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises”.

“Dyson Bane, coming soon to a wealthy/gullible high street near you.” a Twitter user joked.

“I mean, we could just clean up the air pollution in cities, but no, let’s all just cosplay Blade Runner instead.” another joked.

Others joked that the device looked like an elaborate April Fool’s joke — what Dyson quickly denied it.

Dyson said the distinctive visor was “non-contact” and “kept close to the nose and mouth” rather than masking them entirely. The device works with compressors in each earcup that “project two streams of purified air onto the wearer’s nose and mouth” through the visor.

The “Zone” is capable of filtering up to 99% of particulate pollution, Dyson officials said The edge. The visor can also be removed if the wearer prefers to only use the headphones. The device is designed to protect against air pollution, not as a replacement for masks that protect against COVID-19, it said meshable.

Go into the zone with Dyson’s latest technology.

30 years of experience in air filtration has resulted in a high-end portable audio device. With a non-contact visor to provide a continuous supply of purified air to the nose and mouth. So you can breathe cleaner air anywhere.

— Dyson (@Dyson) March 30, 2022

Dyson didn’t give an exact release date for its “Zone” headset, only stating that the device would be released sometime in 2022. It’s also unclear how much the “Zone” will cost.