[imagesource: Honeywell]

I feel like masks are here to stay, so we might as well make them fashhh… technologically ripped!

Here to make you look apocalypse-ready, Will.i.am has combined talents and aesthetic visions with US-based company Honeywell to create a face mask called the Xupermask.

For extreme face mask wearers only.

The rapper and entrepreneur spoke to CNBC about the mask, saying that it combines protection, design, and usability into one product, and he believes the mask will be as valuable to consumers these days as a pair of Air Jordan shoes is to sneakerheads.

“We’ve long past looked at shoes as protective gear, but they’re just cultural items that we go out and buy,” Will.i.am told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in a “Mad Money” interview.

“The mask should have the same type of attention to detail, love and care to where you’re not compromising aesthetics for keeping yourself and other people safe.”

The Xupermask goes on sale this coming Wednesday and will retail for $299 (around R4 400).

This price is worth it, asserts Will.i.am, as the protective technology is not only functional but also hella fashionable.

The mask has a sizable list of techy features: LED lights, three-speed fans for breathability, and noise-cancelling headphones, all while aiming to be as comfortable as possible.

Wannabe superheroes (sorry, I mean Xuperheroes) will be excited to know that the “futuristic sci-fi film” look is kudos to the designer, Jose Fernandez, who is behind the mask designs for Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Tron.

You can breathe easy as John Waldron, who is the CEO of Honeywell’s safety and productivity solutions, has supplied the HEPA filters:

“This particular Xupermask has a very unique patented filter design, which we’re very proud of that brings, you know, top-notch filtration without sacrificing usability or fashion,” he said.

“I think we tried to blend the best of both worlds.”

Here’s a video running through the various features:

Will.i.am bets people will be wearing masks long after the pandemic, so this mask could be an investment:

“I think people will continue to wear masks and [if] masks like the Xupermask have other functionality, I think you’re going to [be] giving people an option,” Will.i.am said.

I mean I saw people (not in Asia where it was already a daily feature) wearing medical masks for fashion way before the pandemic hit, so it seems Will.i.am is onto something here.

Perhaps he even understood the need for this kind of wearable tech back in 2003 when the timeless Black Eyed Peas song ‘Where Is The Love?’ was released, singing the very applicable line “Chemical gasses [are] fillin’ lungs of little ones”.

A true visionary.

[source:cnbc]