LG has introduced an alternative to face masks: a wearable air purifier that fits over the mouth and nose and filters everything you breathe into clean air

The LG PuriCare wearable air purifier uses the same technology as the brand's larger home air purifiers The fan and filter are housed in a face mask-type device that fastens around the ears and covers the nose and chin area

In an age when people around the world are wearing face masks in public and for personal health, LG's wearable air purifier sounds more practical than apocalyptic

Its design, which LG says is "ergonomically designed based on extensive face shape analysis," looks like something a character in a movie would wear while traveling through a distopic, half-space, half-atmosphere universe

But if you look past its menacing appearance, the PuriCare wearable purifier's two H13 HEPA filters, dual fans, and patented breathing sensor that automatically adjusts fan speed for up to eight hours at a time, all mask-related breathing complaints It's going to solve all of your breathing frustrations associated with masks

And, of course, it will protect our health The wearable purifier is equipped with a UV-LED light that kills harmful bacteria and will let you know when the filter needs to be changed

There was a time when wearable air purifiers would have been considered ridiculous

In fact, CES 2020 included a product similar to LG's wearable purifier called Atmos Facewear in its roundup of the weirdest gadgets at the show

When the company behind the Atmos Facewear claimed that its transparent contraption would prevent polluted outside air from being inhaled, I wrote--and I quote--"I fear a future where Atmos is needed, both for its distracting design and its intended purpose"

Obviously, that future came sooner than I and many others had anticipated

Now we are presented with wearable air purifiers from leading electronics brands, and hey Exciting?

Devices like LG's may not be able to rid the earth of bacterial and viral particles, but they could help people with compromised immune systems and other conditions that pose health risks

If you need to wrap a vane mask around your head in public to keep people healthy, sign up