When it comes to headphone designs, we were pretty sure we’d seen everything audio firms could throw at us: In-ears, over-ears, on-ears, wired, wireless… until today.
That’s because tech giant Dyson, best known for their range of vacuum cleaners, have decided to try and clean up the headphone market with the Dyson Zone – a set of noise cancelling, high fidelity over-ear cans which simultaneously “deliver immersive sound to the ears, and purified airflow to the nose and mouth.”
Looking like something you’d expect to see plastering the fizzog of Batman foe Bane, or a piece of tech a Jedi would use to navigate Naboo’s choppy waters on a journey to Gungan City, there’s nothing else quite like the Dyson Zone.
The company say they were moved to create the Dyson Zone due to the increase in urban pollution levels, with chief engineer Jake Dyson explaining: “Air pollution is a global problem – it affects us everywhere we go. In our homes, at school, at work and as we travel, whether on foot, on a bike or by public or private transport.
“The Dyson Zone purifies the air you breathe on the move. And unlike face masks, it delivers a plume of fresh air without touching your face, using high-performance filters and two miniaturised air pumps. After six years in development, we’re excited to deliver pure air and pure audio, anywhere.”
Dyson report that over those six years of development, they went through 500 prototype designs before settling on the finished model.
So how do they work? Simply put, compressors in both ear cups draw in air from the environment and filter it, turning it into a stream of purified air which then flows to your mouth and nose through the contact-free visor in front of your face.
As for the headphones themselves, Dyson report they offer “rich, immersive audio and relief from unwanted city noise thanks to advanced active noise cancelling, low distortion and a neutral frequency response, to faithfully replicate music or audio as the creator intended.”
The visor can also be detached leaving just the headphones.
Dyson also say the headphones capture 99% of particle pollution and have four levels of air purification, while three levels of noise cancellation are built in: Isolation, Conversation and Transparency.
The Dyson Zone will be available in the autumn of 2022 at a price still to be revealed.
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