Dyson’s portable air purifier features two speakers assemblies — both have a filter, an impeller that creates airflow, and a motor that drives the impeller. The clean air travels down a nozzle and to a front strap. This strip has an outlet that releases air toward your nose and mouth.

With a 12,000 RPM impeller and a motor on each side of your head, it seems likely that these units will feature active noise cancelling (ANC). Whether or not the noise of the motor and impeller will be a distraction to nearby commuters and coworkers isn’t clear. Those same elements of the product bring up the question of battery life — the headset probably won’t last nearly as long as standard wireless headphones. When it comes to the looks of the wearable air purifier, the front strip that directs air toward your nose and mouth may turn out to be more of an unwanted attention-getter than a standard antiviral mask.

This is just a patent, so a commercially available product isn’t guaranteed. However, Dyson has been working on a wearable air purifier for over a year, so it seems like this could end up becoming a reality. Furthermore, it does indicate the need for wearable air purification. This may not be something you’d wear every day, but on flights or in polluted areas, it could help avoid illness or damage to the lungs — and it could be something that flies off the shelf during media-hyped events like the current coronavirus outbreak.