This mask allows you to speak everywhere without being heard by everyone

It leaves you speechless, except of course for the interlocutor with whom you speak. The Toulouse start-up Skyted has just developed a mask that has nothing, or almost nothing, to do with the Covid-19. It does not block the virus but the wearer’s own voice, creating an intimate “bubble”.

At a time when the pandemic has made the nomadic “conf call” and “visio” flourish, those who travel in the airlocks of the TGVs so as not to inconvenience the passengers of the train or be garlanded by the controller, or those who are specialized in convolutions so as not to betray professional secrecy in a taxi or a restaurant will quickly understand the usefulness of this accessory. Without counting those who listened, in spite of themselves, to a conversation which did not concern them in a café, an RER train or an airport hall.

It “imprisons the voice”

It was, moreover, while discussing with the manager of an airline dreaming of a cabin where everyone could finally continue their asides without necessarily creating chaos that Stéphane Hersen, a long-time executive in Singapore for Airbus and now boss of Skyted, came up with the idea of ​​this mask “which imprisons the voice” and blocks “both noise coming out” but also “external noise”, such as jackhammers and police sirens.

“We worked with very good acousticians from the CNRS, used cutting-edge aeronautical and military techniques”, explains the newcomer from Toulouse. Its small team has just refined the design of its prototypes and printed them in 3D to present them for the first time to the public in January at the famous Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Marketing via online pre-orders and crowdfunding on the Kickstarter platform will start in March 2023 with first deliveries scheduled for the end of the year.

An acoustic cocoon for gamers and their loved ones

Skyted is developing several versions of its mask, which can be connected via Bluetooth to any audio headset. That for individuals – “business travelers” or shy employees of an open space – should cost around 400 euros. But the start-up is also thinking of another niche, and relatives or neighbors of these future customers of the most imposing model breathe a sigh of relief in anticipation. These are the gamers who, caught up in the fever of their online games, imagine themselves alone in their virtual world and knock out loudly, shaking walls and floors. “78% of gamers have an interface problem with those around them,” assures Stéphane Hersen. The mask could solve this small problem of cohabitation and, in addition, give them a wicked futuristic look for their adventures in the Metaverse.