- South Korean designers want to get around the inconvenience of removing masks to eat.
- So, Atman designed the "kosk" a mask that folds up to only cover the nose, The Washington Post reported.
- Once someone is done eating, they can fold it back down to cover their mouth as well.
A South Korean company has designed a "kosk" – a mask that can be folded up to cover only the nose while someone eats, The Washington Post reported.
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A box of 10 kosks, which were designed by the company Atman, is available on a South Korean website for a little more than $8.
The kosk got its name from combining the word "mask" and "ko," the Korean word for nose, the Post reported, adding that "kosk" is usually used to refer to people who don't properly wear the mask over their nose.
The Post reported that while some criticized the mask online, noting that the design neglects that the coronavirus can be spread through the mouth, others said the design would help them feel more comfortable when going out to dine.
This isn't the first time researchers and designers got creative with masks. In March 2021, Mexican researchers designed nose masks, Reuters and the Jerusalem Post reported.
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The tiny mask that covers only the nose is meant to be worn under a regular mask, so that when the user eats, their nose, another passageway for COVID-19, can be covered and protected.