Responding more to the other post but seems perhaps more sensible here as this seems more visible.
The use of these masks has have serious drawback in the case of verbal communications. So, out of the box off the shelf these would not be a long term solution—assuming worst case and no cure/vaccine and the virus stays around for years and years. However, we can use written communications if needed. Moreover, it would not be that hard to put communications into the mask some way.
One, just a cheap internal mic and and external speaker. You could also integrated it via bluetooth and your smartphone or just dedicated bluetooth ear buds/head set getting paired with the internal mic. Obviously some new protocols for dealing with a a multi device setting would be needed but I cannot imagine that we don’t already have solutions that are 80 to 90 percent ready to be apply to the specific setting.
The upside here is that such innovations to the mask may well have positive value in existing use cases as well.
Verbal communication through such masks is a minor drawback; voices are muffled and require only slightly more concentration to be understood while using one.
More expensive versions of respirators have already mostly solved even that inconvenience, with diaphragms that allow for sound to escape about as well as without a mask.
Responding more to the other post but seems perhaps more sensible here as this seems more visible.
The use of these masks has have serious drawback in the case of verbal communications. So, out of the box off the shelf these would not be a long term solution—assuming worst case and no cure/vaccine and the virus stays around for years and years. However, we can use written communications if needed. Moreover, it would not be that hard to put communications into the mask some way.
One, just a cheap internal mic and and external speaker. You could also integrated it via bluetooth and your smartphone or just dedicated bluetooth ear buds/head set getting paired with the internal mic. Obviously some new protocols for dealing with a a multi device setting would be needed but I cannot imagine that we don’t already have solutions that are 80 to 90 percent ready to be apply to the specific setting.
The upside here is that such innovations to the mask may well have positive value in existing use cases as well.
Verbal communication through such masks is a minor drawback; voices are muffled and require only slightly more concentration to be understood while using one.
More expensive versions of respirators have already mostly solved even that inconvenience, with diaphragms that allow for sound to escape about as well as without a mask.
Exactly! Mic and so on is not necessary and too complicated.
Yep, Check off one of the “might be problematic” aspects of using masks as an alternative to stay at home/social distancing in limiting spread.
Seems to get back to production output constraints and general validation of efficacy.