When the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, Chelsea Klukas, a product design manager at Oculus and a fashion-tech entrepreneur at Lumen Couture, decided to produce cloth face masks for her friends since they have a lot of advantages during the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC recommends that people wear cloth face masks in public places and when around people who don’t live in their household as they help prevent people who have the coronavirus disease from spreading. If many people use them in public places, there’s a chance to reduce the spread of COVID-19 significantly.

Lumen Couture is a fashion startup that utilizes cutting-edge technology to create clothes such as hoodies, costumes, or dresses.

However, as many public events got canceled because of coronavirus, Chelsea came up with the idea to make face masks more fun by adding a thin LED matrix screen to them to help people express themselves in text, drawings, or voice inputs. By far, this item is the best-selling one on Lumen Couture.

“I think we are seeing the introduction of mask-wearing as a new form of expression,” Chelsea commented on the popularity of face masks she creates.

Chelsea Klukas had no intention to profit from the pandemic by selling dozens of high-tech masks, that is why Lumen Couture donated the proceeds to the WHO COVID-19 relief fund.

LED face mask owners can also control what the matrix screen displays and thus customize the masks’ light-up messages via an app called CoolLED1248.

The fabric of the mask is a two-layer breathable mesh and can be washed and become a regular mask after you remove the LED Flex Panel. A battery and a charging cord are included in the kit.

Handy Tips: How to Make a Paper Towel Face Mask
Here are 5 video tutorials of varying difficulty with different mask designs. Take a piece of paper or a paper towel, two rubber bands, a stapler, and create your own mask!

Small info notes are included with each item that have a link to the guide on how to use the mask properly. The mask costs $95 and can be purchased directly from the Lumen Couture website.

Ford Developed an Emoji Jacket to Protect Cyclists on the Road
The jacket is created as a part of Ford’s “Share the Road” initiative, the mission of which is “to enable road users’ understanding of each other when sharing the road.”

A lot of people have already purchased high-tech fashion novelty and shared their feedback on Twitter: