- Design studio Design Libero created a prototype for an isolation suit to protect against the coronavirus.
- They are calling the project “bubble shield.”
- The prototype is solar powered with filters to purify the air and prevent transmission through droplets.
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Italian design studio Design Libero created a prototype for a new kind of protective equipment people might wear to protect themselves against COVID-19, the coronavirus disease: a bubble shield.
More than 2.5 million people around the world have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 179,000 have died, and the US has the largest reported outbreak. A third of the world’s population is under some kind of lockdown as experts try to contain and treat the disease.
No one really knows what the world will be like as countries come out of lockdowns while the risk of infection remains, at least until there is a vaccine. In the meantime, designers have come up with some creative ideas for how people will have to adapt, like Design Libero’s bubble shield, or Sun Dayong’s “Be a Batman” shield.
Designers Libero Rutilo and Ekaterina Shchetina told Business Insider that the Bubble Shield is “an inflatable personal environment designed for protecting people in public spaces.” Take a look here.
The inflatable Bubble Shield is designed as a physical barrier to protect people out in public spaces as they slowly begin to reopen from coronavirus lockdowns. It's made from thermic-welded Etfe, a kind of fluorine-based plastic.
The top and bottom are connected by a zipper, for an easy way to put the shield on and remove it.
The prototype is solar-powered, with a battery pack in the backpack that powers the air pump compressor and fan.
The fan purifies and filters the air. Design Libero also proposes it as a solution to pollution, which could make the design useful even after there is a coronavirus vaccine.
Many designers and labs are working on protection solutions for doctors, but this specific prototype focuses on average people being able to go outside while staying protected from the virus.
The design has a similar idea to the anti-coronavirus shield by Sun Dayong, which is also designed to prevent transmission through droplets, and worn like a backpack.
Source: Business Insider