Teen designs Mike Masks | Fusion - WeRIndia

Now, wearing masks is essential to containing the spread of COVID-19. Communication is one of the main problems associated with masks as several studies showed that masks can muffle your speech. Hence, it is difficult for the other person to hear unless you talk louder. If listeners have hearing problems, then it worsens the situation as you have to communicate with them harder.

It is a common practice for people to pull down their masks while speaking, especially when they feel it difficult to communicate with other people. But, pulling down masks while speaking defeats the main purpose.

Having seen the difficulties, a teen from Kerala came up with a solution. Kevin Jacob, a 19-year-old, understood that his parents faced the same issue with masks. His parents are doctors.

They are working at the Metropolitan hospital. They wear N95 mask and face shields while attending to patients. Hence, they have to talk louder while communicating with patients. As a result, their vocal cords were strained, and they used to develop throat issues.

Kevin realized that not only his parents, but several other people are also struggling with the same issue. He wanted to find out a solution, a mask that can amplify the voice of a user. After several trials and errors, Kevin succeeded in his attempt.

He designed a mask fitted with a mic and speakers that amplify the voice of users. Hence, users need not talk louder and strain their vocal cords while speaking.

Kevin kept a mic on the mask and the speaker and amplifier on the face shield. Alternatively, the mic and amplifier can be placed on either side of a mask, if the user wears only a face mask but does not have a face shield.

Kevin says that it was not an easy task. He modified his prototype multiple times taking the feedback from many doctors and healthcare workers.

Now, not just Kevin’s parents, but many frontline healthcare workers in Kerala are using these masks.

Photo by Debora Cartagena, USCDCP on Pixnio (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Reference: https://pixnio.com/science/medical-science/face-masks-or-respirators