An internal project under Crystal Planet Labs around mid-last year, was to design a 'better' mask for the (Covid) times.

What is the "better" we wanted to work on:

1. protection against the virus (be better than handkerchiefs & cloth masks at least)

2. affordability (can't solve a global problem if it is not affordable)

3. breathable

4. address gaps on the sides of the nose

Good to have feature:

1. transparent (at least around the mouth), to allow for quality human interactions

After some initial sketches:

Prototype 1 (white boxes on a regular mask): A regular 3-ply mask retrofitted with two air-intake filters (had car air filters in it) and tubes going into the mask.

Prototype 2 (a food container with transparent section): This prototype focused on offering sufficient breathing room inside the mask, and being transparent around the mouth to enable better human interactions. While the food container used was large and unwieldy, it helped imagine the possibility. This version too had air intake & filter chambers with the intakes being at the bottom of the two white boxes (to prevent any direct airborne particles from entering the filter system).

Prototype 3 (section of food container used in combination with handkerchief): This prototype offered affordability, by being just a small, low-cost accessory that could be used in conjunction with a handkerchief, but which improved both breathability (marginally) and safety. The section with twine on the ends, needs to be placed on the inside of a handkerchief, and tied around the face. A regular handkerchief was not safe against the virus, but this section covered the nose, mouth and part of the cheeks, thus preventing any direct airborne particles from coming in contact with the nose and mouth. Given the curvature of the section, it offered a little more room for breathing, as opposed to a handkerchief that would be too close to the nose and mouth to allow for comfortable breathing and speaking.