Dyson's 2-in-1 headphones-air purifier device, developed in Singapore, to hit stores here in March

SINGAPORE – Global domestic appliance maker Dyson wants its technology to be worn on the streets, announcing on Thursday (Dec 8) the sale of its first wearable device, developed in its key labs in Britain and Singapore.

Sale of the Dyson Zone, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones complete with an air-purifying snap-on face visor, will begin in January 2023 in China, followed by US, Britain, Hong Kong and Singapore from March. 

The Singapore-headquartered company is keeping the product's retail price close to its chest for now.

The contraption creates an unusual look for its wearer that has been likened to Princess Leia's hair buns in the original Star Wars movie and Batman villain Bane's mask.

But not everyone is a fan of the look, which drew mockery from some netizens when Dyson first announced the gadget in March 2022. The criticisms are a contrast to the praise that Dyson vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans and air purifiers have won for their iconic industrial look and unique bright colours.

Dyson founder James Dyson has said the Zone's invention is proof of the company's willingness to take risks. He wrote in an updated edition of his book Invention: "A product like the Dyson Zone headphones has never existed before. This is very much a pure invention… and the latest evidence of our willingness to take risks."

Mr Alex Knox, Dyson's vice-president of new product innovation, said in an interview with The Straits Times that the inspiration for the Zone started six years ago from the company's desire to tackle outdoor air pollution.

He said: "We had a range of products to solve the problem of indoor air pollution, but you get exposed when you're outdoors. So we started thinking: 'Well, how do we solve that?'

"We'd seen these things that you put around your neck that blew a little bit of air up. We realised very quickly they do not work. By the time any clean air gets to your nose and mouth it's so mixed with all the dirt you're not actually getting any benefit."

The realisation of the need for a bubble of clean air around the nose, and for the bubble to move as the head turns, convinced engineers that the wearable purifier had to be mounted on headgear such as a pair of headphones. 

Headphones are an established category of products and would be less challenging than creating a new contraption for the head, Mr Knox added. 

The initial concept for the wearable purifier comprised a backpack motor and filtration system connected to a snorkel-like mouthpiece. Compared with the initial unwieldy design, the final product – after testing more than 500 prototypes over six years in its Malmesbury and Hullavington labs in Britain – is smaller and more discreet. 

The Zone pulls in air through each earpiece using a pair of low-noise motors, a miniaturised version of the company's existing technology. The air is then cleaned by electrostatic filters mounted on the earcup and piped through the visor for the user to breathe in.

The visor sits in front of but does not touch the face. It snaps onto the headphones through a series of magnets, allowing it to be flipped down or easily removed.

Dyson said the pair of filters will last up to 12 months, depending on geographical location and usage levels, capturing most ultrafine particles – which can be as small as 0.1 micron. City gas pollutants like nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone as well as unpleasant smells from organic compounds will also be filtered.

Dyson makes no claims that the Zone is able to replace the surgical masks worn during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But scientists have reportedly said that the Covid-19 virus, around 0.1 micron in size, is always bonded to something larger, such as water droplets or mucus protein of more than one micron.

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The headphones, although a completely new market for the company, take a more traditional approach to sound reproduction by sticking to musicians' original tracks. A mix of passive and active noise cancellation is done through 10 built-in microphones. An 11th microphone allows users to take phone calls.

Embedded sensors allow music playback to automatically start or stop when the headphone is worn or taken off. Similarly, visor airflow automatically pauses when the visor dips.

Use of embedded accelerometers automates airflow for different levels of exertion. For example, if the user is climbing a flight of stairs or jogging, the airflow will be adjusted up. 

The company's global headquarters in Singapore – staffed by 1,400 employees, of whom 560 are engineers and scientists – is key to the software development that adds this automated "intelligence" to the product.

Ms Zhang Chunrui, Dyson's head of embedded software for South-east Asia, said: "The algorithm we developed powers the auto mode, when software takes over the function of the Zone."

Ms Zhang, who manages 150 software engineers in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines, said that only about 20 people were involved in the development of the Zone. Most of the heavy lifting happened during the lockdown phase of the pandemic in Singapore and Malaysia. 

"It was a challenge as most of us were kept at home. We were glad at one point that we could go back to the office even in a limited way," she said. "Software integration had to be done in the office because of the need to use the hardware prototype, which could not leave the premises for confidentiality reasons."

An accompanying app, dubbed MyDyson, acts like a remote control for the Zone. Although the app was developed in Britain, the Singapore team is behind the cloud services pushed through the app.

These cloud services include user registration, hardware pairing with the app and new features to be downloaded to the headphones over the air.

Testing for the product was done in the company's Malaysian development centre in Johor. User trials were conducted in the US, Britain, China and Singapore.

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The company, which employs 14,000 workers globally, is registering consumer interest in the Dyson Zone online.

Smartwatches, audio earbuds and headphones, fitness trackers and virtual-reality glasses dominate the global wearable space, valued at US$54.8 billion (S$74.4 billion) in 2020.

The market is expected to grow to more than US$184 billion by 2031, according to Allied Market Research.

Dyson's entry into the wearable market comes six years after it entered the beauty industry with the launch of its first hand-held hair dryer, Dyson Supersonic, in 2016. It was positioned as a premium hair dryer, a first then.

Unlike the beauty sector, the headphones space is already crowded with premium brands including Sennheiser, Sony, Shure, Beyerdynamic, Bang & Olufsen, Harman Kardon and Bose. 

How will Dyson stand out? 

"We don't just want to do the same as everyone else. We want to do something a little bit different. This product was all about air purification to start with," said Mr Knox.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.