So much for the post-apocalyptic air purfier helmet

June 8, 2023 3:19 PM

What it’s like to wear the Dyson Zone around an NYC covered in wildfire smoke "A quick note: I don’t recommend anyone strap on a futuristic pair of headphones that double as a wearable air purifier and stride out into hazardous conditions."
posted by KelsonV (29 comments total)

I thought the writer was going to get hunted by feral gangs to sell for parts to the organleggers and backstreet doctors…. But, no, just pollution and a kind of crap device.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:40 PM on June 8, 2023 [5 favorites]

Naomi Wu has previously tweeted about how bad and even dangerous the Dyson Zone is for COVID mitigation.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:51 PM on June 8, 2023 [14 favorites]

The $1,000 air purifier that attaches to your face but doesn't form a seal(??).
posted by grobstein at 3:57 PM on June 8, 2023 [11 favorites]

I guess from Wu's thread this was maybe a somewhat reasonable idea if (1) you are not at all worried about spreading respiratory infections, wamp wamp, and (2) the air quality problems are only moderate. (And (3) you want to throw a stupid amount of money at a problem that is probably better addressed by a respirator that might cost between $3 and $100.)
posted by grobstein at 4:00 PM on June 8, 2023 [5 favorites]

How does she spend the entire review trashing the device it and then close with "I do think, however, that the Zone as a concept is onto something.". I mean, either it does the job or it doesn't. A device that simply promises to do a thing that it doesn't actually do is nothing at all.
posted by hippybear at 4:01 PM on June 8, 2023 [3 favorites]

I mean, either it does the job or it doesn't.

I mean, having an air purifier strapped into your face sounds like a workable concept, even if this specific implementation of the idea sucks.
posted by simmering octagon at 4:13 PM on June 8, 2023 [11 favorites]

Pfft. Amateurs. The cool kids will be wearing a Dyson Zone and Apple Vision Pro goggles.
posted by zardoz at 4:25 PM on June 8, 2023 [8 favorites]

a kind of crap device.

Fortunately I already have a built-in "crap device" that works quite well (except for a few days after my last colonoscopy).
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:26 PM on June 8, 2023 [8 favorites]

If you're breathing through that, you need to see your doctor immediately.
posted by hippybear at 4:26 PM on June 8, 2023 [11 favorites]

spend the entire review trashing the device it and then close with "I do think, however, that the Zone as a concept is onto something."

Throwing a bone to the manufacturer, so that the author doesn't get cut off from potential future scoops?
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:28 PM on June 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

Throwing a bone to the manufacturer

Either they paid $1000 for the thing to review it the first time, or they didn't. [This being a second review of the device, as stated in the article.]
posted by hippybear at 4:30 PM on June 8, 2023 [2 favorites]

Holy cow! NYC is that bad right now? That's horrible. It's been hazy for days here in Chicago, but nothing like that. Then again, I don't think we've had any decent rainfall in about a month or more. turns out, the future sucks.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:56 PM on June 8, 2023

The $1,000 air purifier that attaches to your face but doesn't form a seal(??).

Basically, it's as effective as a dyson air filter/fan. Which is not very effective at all. Their performance is mid-tier at best in the filter and fan categories despite their top tier pricing. I inherited one and bought one but only because their performance is so bad - I wanted a fan that would just gently and quietly move a little bit of air but not be noisy or create annoying wind. Fans that are both that crappy at moving air and quiet are very hard to find!
posted by srboisvert at 4:58 PM on June 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

I had a Dyson vacuum that was around 15 years old (maybe older) when it finally broke about 5 years ago. A moving person grabbed it sloppily and it slipped out of his grasp and fell down stairs, breaking the thing in about three pieces and cracking parts, too. I managed to get $300 (!!!) back from the moving company because I took photos, reported it immediately and the guy confessed right away. I saw him do it. Can't remember what I paid for it way back when, though.

Anyway, that thing was a monster. 15 years on, it still had extremely powerful suction and ran like a champ. Never had it serviced, only did some cleaning of the unit myself once in a while. Main downside to it was its weight, and it was bulky and couldn't get under staff easily. I understand the newer Dyson vacs don't have the same reputation so I replaced it with a Shark. So far, so good with the Shark.

We bought an open-box Dyson rechargeable stick vac (simple version, not the pet hair kind) and it's been doing really well, too. The battery does an entire floor of my home (well, the hardwood floors and tile) on medium speed before needing a recharge. We mostly use it for touch up stuff, like doing the kitchen after cooking, getting egregious dust bunnies in the bedroom, doing the wood staircase. It's not a "real" vacuum, but it's pretty damn good. And being so handy, it gets used often.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:04 PM on June 8, 2023

Between greg_ace and hippybear, I'm wanting to watch Naked Lunch again.
posted by Ickster at 5:07 PM on June 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

That's not quite the reaction I was shooting for.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:19 PM on June 8, 2023 [5 favorites]

"She's a replicant, isn't she?"
"I'm impressed. How many clickbait articles does it usually take to spot them?"
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 6:12 PM on June 8, 2023 [1 favorite]

The cool kids will be wearing a Dyson Zone and Apple Vision Pro goggles.

Marques Brownlee is quite impressed with the Apple Vision Pro. The Zone? Not so much: This is the Dumbest Product I've Ever Reviewed
posted by flabdablet at 6:26 PM on June 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

Naomi is not a replicant and she has been covered here on the blue before
posted by mbo at 9:18 PM on June 8, 2023 [4 favorites]

she has been covered here on the blue before

the skepticism in that thread about LGBT suppression in China seems pretty quaint in 2023

edit: forgot she's got an account, and thereby qualifies as "MetaFilter's own Naomi Wu"
posted by Merus at 11:07 PM on June 8, 2023 [6 favorites]

I mean, having an air purifier strapped into your face sounds like a workable concept, even if this specific implementation of the idea sucks.

Thing is, an "air purifier" in this context is just a filter. A filter, and a fan. Now, if you want a portable filter that is going to definitely be in the path of all the air you breathe, that's easy: wear a mask! Why in God's name you'd think that putting the filters further from your face and getting a motor involved is going to make anything better I don't understand, but I don't work for Dyson.

The only reason that "air purifiers" (which again, are just filters with fans blowing through them) work in a home setting is that you are in an enclosed environment - after a while, the idea is you'll have forced most or all the air in your house or office through the filters, where all the particulates will stay. If you want a 'personal' solution for this, just put a filter over your mouth and nose - wear a mask.

I'd say this is a solution looking for a problem, but it isn't even that. It's a misunderstanding of the science and method of operation of "air purifiers" which somehow positions them as better than masks, because mumble mumble mechanical, electrical, machine must be better. No. Machine is just trying to compensate for the fact that the filter is over your fucking ears instead of nose and mouth.
posted by Dysk at 1:29 AM on June 9, 2023 [9 favorites]

I mean, having an air purifier strapped into your face sounds like a workable concept

It’s so workable that there are a whole bunch of them already for medical/industrial/emergency uses, they’re usually called PAPR masks, dyson have just made a shit one, with headphones.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 3:08 AM on June 9, 2023 [18 favorites]

I’m still masking up for COVID, and as evidenced by the places I go, far more than anyone else I see. I don’t particularly like masks, both from a hot humid air being trapped in my face and the social angle as well. I don’t have $1000 to drop on it, but I would love a device that reliably offers me clean, filtered air to my mouth and nose without having to wear something over my face or head. This Dyson thing doesn’t seem to offer that but I think it’s fair to say that “they’re on to something” with that concept
posted by raccoon409 at 6:34 AM on June 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Didn't someone already do the actually functional but no less ridiculous version of this a few years ago? Yes! Lots!


I would love a device that reliably offers me clean, filtered air to my mouth and nose without having to wear something over my face or head

Those two wants are practically incompatible. Even the Dyson thing, which fails to deliver you clean air meaningfully, has you wear something across your face.
posted by Dysk at 6:41 AM on June 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

Something had to come around to replace Google Glass for people to point and laugh at but with the Dyson name on it, I was expecting a little more than this.
posted by tommasz at 7:28 AM on June 9, 2023

Razer (an overpriced, semi-good gaming accessory company) ask produced an 'active mask' - I don't know if it works or anything.
posted by rozcakj at 8:35 AM on June 9, 2023

I've been using the MSA Advantage mask with P100 filter cartridges; it works well and is more comfortable to wear over long periods.
posted by JDC8 at 9:34 AM on June 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

It’s so workable that there are a whole bunch of them already for medical/industrial/emergency uses, they’re usually called PAPR masks, dyson have just made a shit one, with headphones.

If you've got Dyson money to spend on air purification, they are something to consider. They have higher protection factors than normal N95 or elastomeric masks and don't rely on a face seal. They're a whole other level of comfortable compared to masks. Too bad they're so expensive, but they're definitely not a gimmic (unlike the Dyson).
posted by netowl at 11:55 AM on June 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

Even if it worked, the battery life doesn't let you forage for supplies far from home, unless you're really good at running while also holding your breath.
posted by dg at 9:13 PM on June 11, 2023