Going to concerts in the near future might require rocking a neon spacesuit straight out of Daft Punk’s closet, if an L.A. designer’s vision comes true.
It’s called the Micrashell, a prototype for a personal protective suit that would allow people to once again attend large public gatherings without having to worry about social distancing … thanks to a built-in ventilation system.
The suit’s the brainchild of Miguel Risueno — head of inventions at L.A.-based design studio, Production Club — who says he was inspired to get to work in March after he saw spring breakers in Florida blowing off coronavirus stay-at-home orders to party.
He says he wanted to come up with something that would support both the public health and folks in the music industry out of work due to the pandemic … with a simple mix of safety features and smartphone tech solutions.
Risueno says he doesn’t want it to feel like a medical device — hence the colors — but the airtight suit functions like one with a ventilation system he says works like an N-95 respirator with a replaceable filter.
The dome of the suit also includes some crazy audio tech, allowing users to customize who they talk to and controls what they can listen to via software and an accompanying app.
Oh, and it’s only for the upper body — which makes bathroom breaks a lot easier — and can be easily sanitized thanks to cut-resistance fabric.
Until there’s a vaccine and everyone’s past the fear of the coronavirus, the Micrashell might be the best solution to enjoy live music
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But, here’s one other option — a drive-in social distancing concert was held in Germany this weekend, with tons of cars packed in tight but nobody allowed to get out.
The fact people are willing to sit in car fumes and deal with a potential traffic jam to attend a concert speaks volumes … it might be this way or the highway until everyone’s immune to COVID-19.
Translation: C’mon scientists, we need that vaccine!!!