That might be how the idea got started, but I am 90% sure that most of the many, many Chinese people I see wearing masks in London are not doing it because they are sick themselves (this was always a thing, but has really taken off in the last couple of months). I couldn’t say, though, whether they think of it as “this will stop me getting sick” or “it is polite to reassure others that I will not infect them”.
Either reason is dubious – it won’t stop you getting sick, and I don’t think it relaxes anyone when every Chinese tourist on the tube is in coronavirus cosplay. But whatever.
I bet money that the moment people start using these to throw off video surveillance by easily changing their facial features they will be forbidden.
Also: if you can unlock a phone with this mask, that phone is very easy to unlock, steal, hack…
It’s a typical case where someone thinks about a problem THEY might have but it isn’t a good idea for many reasons (90% of startups are this, 9% are “Uber, but for [random thing]” and 1% are about solving problems in a scalable way)
I’m waiting for somebody to make a bit of irony at least a few fools would be sure to buy…A face mask with a little flap you can open to insert your cigarette/vape-pen.
