Say Hello To The Future With Dyson’s New Air Purifying Headphones

Dyson are releasing a pair of noise-cancelling headphones that clean the air while you’re breathing. Called the Dyson Zone, they are set to be the brand’s most futuristic and controversial item yet.

The company’s website reads: The Dyson Zone™ is Dyson’s first wearable purifier, capturing city pollution including gas, allergens and particulate matter and cancelling unwanted noise with advanced noise cancellation and pure, high-fidelity audio.

The Dyson Zone™ is a set of noise cancelling, high fidelity over-ear headphones which simultaneously deliver immersive sound to the ears, and purified airflow to the nose and mouth. The result of over a decade of air quality research and development, the Dyson Zone™ air-purifying headphones simultaneously tackle the urban issues of air quality and noise pollution.

As much as Aussies would love to get their hands on the Dyson Zone though, they may have to wait. Set to be released in January in China and March in the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore no word has yet been given as to when the gadget will hit Australian shores.

In a press release it was revealed that the original prototype looked very different to what is on sale today.

Originally a snorkel-like clean air mouthpiece paired with a backpack to hold the motor and inner workings, the Dyson Zone™ air-purifying headphones evolved dramatically over its six years in development. More than 500 prototypes saw one motor initially placed at the nape become two compressors, one in each ear-cup and the evolution of the snorkel mouthpiece into an effective, contact-free visor that delivers clean air without full-face contact – a brand-new clean air delivery mechanism.

And while the design may appear strange at first, the science behind the futuristic look is all for the comfort of the wearer. Taking inspiration from the shape and design of a horse’s saddle, the Dyson Zone™ is engineered to distribute weight over the sides of the head, rather than on the top. A saddle typically curves over the horse’s spine distributing the load through contact with the areas left and right of the backbone – a format used for the central cushion on the headband.

The development of the ear cushions is important for three reasons: comfort, on-head stability and passive attenuation. Foam is an obvious choice for ear cushions but Dyson engineers dug deep into the make-up of different foams to choose the most suitable material based on density, rate of compression and spring-back rate – all of which change the way pressure translates onto the head. When choosing the optimal foam for the ear and headband cushions, it was important to balance the comfort it provides, its stability when moulded to the ear, but critically the acoustic benefit it provides. Moulding around the ear increases the size of the contact points providing better sealing – and inhibiting additional urban noise entering the ear. The cushion is purposefully flatter than conventional ear cushions for both attenuation and comfort, and the cushions are angled in line with the angle of the ear on the head for optimal comfort.

So what can you expect from the Dyson Zone, apart from looking like a Jetson? Plenty, according to a company spokesman.

Battery life: 50 hours of charge on these noise-cancelling headphones, unless you turn the air purification on and then it drops to 4 hours.

Advanced noise cancelling: There are 11 microphones inside and eight of them are used to reduce external sounds around you by as much as 38 dB.

Full spectrum audio: The Dyson Zone claims to have the clearest next level audio quality that ensures “every note or word is heard”.

Air filtration on the go: The air filtration works by attaching the detachable visor which projects purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth. The filters remove pollutants as small as 0.1 microns.

Ability to take calls: You can take and receive calls through this headset which is perfect when you’re on the go.

What do you think? Can see yourself rocking one of these headphone air purifier gizmos?

Images: Dyson