Three Sketches: Mask Design Studies
These prototypes are sketches; quick explorations and validations of ideas. These sketches, like all sketches, are capable of describing the complete but abbreviated contours of a concept, while also offering space to work out the parts of that concept that are as of yet incomplete. Sketches make concepts concrete, giving form to the abstract, inviting us to imagine how such a thing might exist.
These masks are sketches; studies of what has become the defining design icon of the global pandemic. Within a relatively short period, masks have become widely adopted (and also widely rejected) as they become intimately integrated into our lives. These days most people don’t leave home without one. They are an essential part of our daily costume, every bit as necessary as phones or clothes. But there is so much room for improvement. There are so many questions that can be asked about their design and the behaviors they elicit. There are so many possibilities of what a mask could be.
Each of these sketches is a study that invites us to reimagine the face mask.
The Automated Mask
The science is clear: wearing masks saves lives. In many places, they are mandated, if not by law, then by social norms. Early in the pandemic, when PPE was in dangerously short supply, people from all walks of life took on the role of citizen designer to fabricate their own their PPE in a way refreshingly reminiscent of pre-modern means of production, when consumption was a matter of what you could make rather than what you could buy.
Embodying both complementary roles of designer and user should empower us to ask relevant questions for improvement. After using masks for months now, many of us would agree that these simple pieces of cloth, pressed against the face for extended periods can become quite uncomfortable, especially when engaging in activities that require more effort to breath or take place in the heat. It raises questions about when it is absolutely necessary to wear masks, and when it is ok not to. The adoption of new behaviors and norms, especially at times of high anxiety such as in a pandemic, can lead us to miss some of the nuance necessary to asking these kinds of design questions.
This design sketch asks: What if my mask could respond to the conditions around me? What if a mask could automatically decide whether it was necessary or unnecessary to wear it, given my proximity to others?
The Social Distancing Mask
Early in the pandemic, as the design class I teach migrated off campus and onto Zoom, the relationship between masks and social distancing became a central topic of conversation. We explored a variety of design interventions that explored this theme (see Proxemics). We discussed precedent work, including the plague doctor’s costume. Not only was this funny looking get-up the 17th century equivalent of PPE, it also included features such as scent pouch and long stick to promote a safe distance from potentially contagious plague patients. And even though the Miasma Theory that informed its design wasn’t quite correct, the intuition was; cover your face and keep a safe distance.
Stuck at home in those early days, I made this sketch, which explores the integration of social distancing cues directly into the face mask. The idea is simple. A distance sensor let’s people around you know if you are within a six feet perimeter. This sketch was taken further over the summer by Beijing high school student, Danny Yang, who continued to develop the design (read about his design process here).
This sketch asks: What if masks were designed to encourage social distancing behavior, and help people delimit safe space from others?
The Virtual Elephant in the Room
The third design study actually predates the COVID19 pandemic. It is an exploration of Speculative Design that imagines a conversation ten years in the future with the CEO of a company that has developed a widely adopted platform that integrates augmented reality, social media, and a new kind of face covering called an AFP or Artificial Facial Prostheses. The fictional CEO explains how this technology works as they explore its consequences on its users and society at large. As with these other projects, I used low resolution prototyping to sketch out some of the features of such a technology, playfully imagining what this might look like.
This sketch asks: What might masks look like in the future? How might Augmented Reality and evolving ideas about social media be integrated into wearable devices such as face masks? You can read the Design Fiction here.
