German scientists have perfected a revolutionary COVID facemask which reveals your lips moving as you speak, solving one of the most frustrating problems of our covered-up lives.
The patented material comprises a triple layer of woven diaphanous carbon disulphide, whose unique property is that it becomes briefly translucent in response to heat.
Dr Anja Göbbiter, CEO of developer Mundansicht AB, told Spoofflé: “The big challenge was being how quickly the material she is responding, so for the early trials this was being too slow to heat up and cool down fast.”
The first prototypes apparently took over a minute to respond to each word mouthed. However, a laboratory incident last September led to a dramatic breakthrough, with the current material now able to keep up with even a fast talker.
Our Health Editor Cressida Thompson-Bone asked Dr Göbbiter whether the company’s new £18M electron microscope had helped solve the chemical conundrum.
“No,” she replied. “An assistant with the clumsy hands he is spilling the can of Coke into the mixing flask. This it seems is doing the tricks but we have not the idea why.”
The mask is to be marketed under the brand name ‘Hot Lips’ and will be available on Amazon from early April with an anticipated price of £18.