Israeli art students design masks to meet unmet needs of disabled persons
Different variations of masks include designs to meet the needs of a wide range of disabilities from the deaf and hard-of-hearing to people with touch-sensory issues.
By CELIA JEANThe 'Pullup' mask, by Keren Attas, is designed for people with touch-sensory issues.(photo credit: BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGN)
As the International Day of Disabled Persons approaches this Thursday, students from Bezalel Academy of Art's Department of Industrial Design designed innovative coronavirus masks, each of which fulfills a potential unmet need in the life of a disabled person.The charcoal mask filters out natural toxins by Sunny Lustov. (BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGN)
Students Attas Keren, Zerkavod Dohr, Lustov Sunny and Neria Nir designed variations on masks to meet the needs of a wide range of disabilities from the deaf and hard-of-hearing to people with touch-sensory issues, as well as an alternatively designed mask for the at-risk community, which allows them to be able to leave their house with confidence.
Designed in an unconventional shape for a mask than many might expect, the design for the hard-of-hearing may not look like a mask, but functions in a similar fashion. Through its unique shape, the graphene is used to filter out germs. The fabric creates an "electric charge" that deflects the infecting particles.'To be with, to feel without,' is for people who rely on lip-reading and facial expressions as apart of their regular way of communicating. Designed by Dohr Zerkavod (BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGN)
The design's name translates to "to be with, but to feel without." Fitted in the nostrils of the user, it allows for the lower half of their face to still be seen so as to allow for the hard-of-hearing community to more easily communicate through lip reading and facial expressions.
Named "Pullup," and designed by Keren Attas, the design suitable for people with touch sensory issues is a simple piece of jewelry which turns the neck of any high collared sweater into a mask. The simple yet elegant design pulls sweater material above the nose by clipping to the fabric while hanging above the tip of the nose.
The design is intended for people, including children, who have particular difficulty with the feeling of the mask on their face and struggle less with the feeling of their own clothing on their face. Copper and pine are both natural antiviral materials, and ingredients in the CoPine mask. Designed by Neria Nir (BEZALEL ACADEMY OF ARTS AND DESIGN)
An additional mask design is called the "CoPine" mask, designed by Neria Nir, and is made out of interwoven needles made of copper and pine, both of which have antiviral and medicinal properties. Lastly is the "Japanese Charcoal" mask made from charcoal which naturally filters out toxins. These two alternative designs allow at-risk patients to feel safe leaving the house.
