Dyson filed the patent for the "wearable air purifier" on 4 January 2018 and although its status is listed as "terminated before grant", the application could be part of the company's plans to monetise an appetite for anti-pollution masks in smoggy cities where air purifying products are already top money-makers. 

Sources told Bloomberg that although the product would mainly function as a personal air purifier, headphones could be bundled into the device, which would mark the appliance manufacturer stepping into a whole new area of consumer electronics, potentially competing against the likes of Sennheiser, Sony and Bose.

The British technology company, best known for its practical home appliances including vacuum cleaners and hair dryers, also produces standalone air purifiers. Innovations in the early 2000s included air purifier necklaces such as the Air Supply Mini-Mate, but it is thought that Dyson could be targeting smog-laden cities in Asia where personal protections against air pollution are more commonly used.

Surgical face masks can be frequently found in cities across Japan, Korea and China. Thought to have first been employed on a mass basis in Japan during a catastrophic influenza outbreak at the turn of the 20th century, earthquakes and general industrial air pollution have seen their continued use in the country, and today citizens there spend as much as $230 million in surgical masks each year. 

More recently surgical masks have become something of a fashion trend in Japan and Asia, and have made their appearances as haute couture runway items, as well as more widely available products that range from the utilitarian to outlandish.

However as Bloomberg notes, Dyson frequently files patents for gadgets that don't make the cut as fully fledged products. A spokesperson said: "Dyson never comments on technology we may or may not be developing." 

Header photo by Nicolò Lazzati.