The article titled "Innovative Face Mask Breaks
Inclusivity Barriers'' depicts the invention of 'Helloface', a 3-ply structure
that is a good and creative replacement for Type IIR EN14683 medical face masks
that are designed by Dean Ezekiel (University of Hertfordshire, n.d.).
According to University of Hertfordshire(n.d.), the inspiration of the
‘Helloface’ mask came from his wife who is partially deaf and relies on
lip-reading in order to understand the person she is talking to if she could
not hear the person. As such, with the importance of having access to
communication via lip reading and facial expressions and in addition to
tackling the outbreak of Covid19, ‘Helloface’ mask was invented in hopes to
solve the issue with communication by the hearing-impaired during the pandemic.
Currently, there are two types of ‘Helloface’ masks available to the market
namely the ‘transparent medical face mask’ and ‘P3 half mask respirator’. The
‘transparent medical face mask’ is a substitute to Type IIR masks where it is
non-reusable and is made from TPE that is recyclable and soft (Indiegogo,
n.d.). The other variant, ‘P3 half mask respirator’, is a reusable mask that
can be used up to 30 times and it is able to filter 99% of the air and provide
excellent protection as it is airtight and sealed to the user's face
(Indiegogo, n.d.).
The ‘Helloface’ mask has benefited the
medical and healthcare sector with the mask being transparent, allowing full
view of the user's face in order to do lip reading and the use of TPE material
that fits comfortably for the user to wear for prolonged period. However, the
cost may affect people’s choice of purchasing it.
The
‘Helloface’ mask can be beneficial to the medical sector as it is transparent
which allows the healthcare workers to have a full view of the user's face so
as to allow them to communicate with the patients that have hearing
disabilities by reading their lips and expression. According to the University
of Hertfordshire (n.d.), there are 11 million of people in the UK that are
registered as hearing-impaired or deaf. Additionally, an average of 1 out of 5
people in the UK has experienced issues with hearing loss and of those, there
are 151,000 of people who interact with people using British Sign Language
(Indiegogo, n.d.). Furthermore, most masks provided to the medical personnel in
the market being largely opaque masks, it blocks vital ways of communication
for the hearing impaired such as lip reading and facial recognition. With the
features the ‘Helloface’ mask provides, it solves the restriction of
communicating with one another with just hand signals by being transparent and
clear so individuals are able to read lips and with anti-fogging glasses made
along with it, users are able to communicate with one another without worrying
the mask will fog up that blurs the user’s face and lips (Indiegogo, n.d.).
The
other benefit of the ‘Helloface’ mask was the ability of being comfortable to
wear. As the masks in the market are either unable to protect well from user’s
sprays or that it is uncomfortable to wear for a prolonged period of time.
According to Esmaeilzadeh(2022), long usage of face masks may cause negative
effects such as feeling unfit, tight, itchy, and fatigued which may result in
bilateral headaches. The comfortability ‘Helloface’ mask is able to provide
such as allowing the user to adjust the ear loop straps of the mask and the
addition of being made from flexible TPE material that cater to different face
or head shapes and sizes (Indiegogo, n.d.), users are able to wear the mask for
extend time as needed.
However,
the cost to purchase the ‘Helloface’ masks are expensive as compared to masks
such as surgical masks or N95. The price for a pack of 50 disposable surgical
masks for as low as $10 or a pack of 100 between $12.75 and $20 and a pack of
10 industrial N95 masks found at hardware stores can be purchased for around
$20 (Nesbit, 2022). With the price of the ‘Helloface’ masks being $22
for a pack of 5 for the normal transparent medical face mask and $51 for one P3
half mask respirator Indiegogo(n.d.), it might be a hard decision for a
consumer to purchase a costly mask, let alone a person that is hearing
impaired. Moreover, the usage of masks surges due to Covid19, it will not be
sustainable in the long run for people to purchase an expensive mask like the
‘Helloface’.
To
conclude, the amount of evidence is sufficient to show how beneficial the
‘Helloface’ mask is to the medical and healthcare sectors. Although, the cost
of the ‘Helloface’ mask might be a setback to people’s decision of purchasing
it. In the end, the innovation of ‘Helloface’ masks is a great way to solve the
issues of communication with people that have hearing disabilities, and by
making more improvement and adjustment to the features and cost, it would
surely be used widely in the future.
References
Esmaeilzadeh, P. (2022, January 12). Public
concerns and burdens associated with face mask-wearing: Lessons learned from
the COVID-19 pandemic. NCBI. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8752171/
Indiegogo. (n.d.). Helloface: CE
Marked, Clear Face Masks. Indiegogo. Retrieved from
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/helloface-ce-marked-clear-face-masks#/
Nesbit, J. (2022, January 19). How Much
Do Masks Really Cost? From Cloth to KN95, Here’s a Price Breakdown.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-masks-really-cost-cloth-174601985.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGvaudlcxOAHn4P6nyecmGlEpVZdCaoONKz616o074WoeQ-XH5dP8kHQsUESj-Wm6OLePHDWvH-IPFO1jjF-xQu8LFrGat30UG8R
University of Hertfordshire. (n.d.). Helloface
Innovative Face Mask | Enterprise Zone | Uni of Herts. University of
Hertfordshire. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.herts.ac.uk/enterprise-zone/news-and-case-studies/case-studies/business-incubation/innovative-face-mask-breaks-inclusivity-barriers
