If you're frequently making confidential phone calls, putting your hand over your mouth and whispering is a far from ideal means of maintaining privacy. That's exactly where the Skyted Silent Mask is intended to come in.
Sort of like a wearable version of the "cone of silence" from the TV series Get Smart, the Skyted is manufactured by a French startup of the same name. And while the legitimacy of similar products has been questioned in the past, this one was actually designed in partnership with Airbus, the European Space Agency, and France's ONERA national aerospace lab (Office National d' Études et de Recherches Aérospatiales).
In fact, the device utilizes the latter group's LEONAR (Long Elastic Open Neck Acoustic Resonator) lining material, which was first created to muffle the sound of jet engines. When used in the mask, the LEONAR tech is claimed to absorb 80% of the user's voice frequencies.
An integrated mic picks up the user's voice inside the mask and transmits it to their iOS or Android smartphone via Bluetooth. The user hears the other person through their own third-party headphones or earbuds. And while the mask does also keep external noises from drowning out the sound of the user's voice, an electronic boosting system can be utilized to increase the transmitted volume of their voice when needed.
And yes, there is a ventilation system which reportedly allows the user to breath freely. Additionally, if the user needs to talk to someone located nearby while in the midst of a phone call, they can temporarily mute the call and allow their voice to be heard through the mask's external speaker.
One 1.5-hour charge of the mask's lithium battery is claimed to be good for approximately 10 hours of use.
Should you be interested, the Skyted Silent Mask is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. Assuming it reaches production, a pledge of US$199 will get you one – the planned retail price is $799.
Its features are demonstrated in the following video.
Sources: Kickstarter, Skyted
