CES has at all times been the place for bizarre, out-there devices to make their debuts, and this yr’s present isn’t any exception.

Skyted, a Toulouse, France-based startup based by former Airbus VP Stéphane Hersen and acoustical engineer Frank Simon, is bringing what appear like a pair of human muzzles to CES 2024. Referred to as the “Mobility Privateness Masks” and “Hybrid Silent Masks,” the face-worn accoutrements are designed to “take up voice frequencies” in noisy environments like plains, trains and ride-shares, Hersen says.

“Skyted’s resolution is right for commuters, enterprise executives and vacationers wherever,” Hersen is quoted as saying in a press launch. “Regardless of how busy or public the situation is, they will now converse in silence and with the reassurance that nobody close by can hear their dialog.”

Picture Credit: Skyted

Now, there’s no getting round the truth that the strap-secured masks aren’t precisely indiscreet or fashionable… except the Dyson Zone tickled your fancy. And at round half a pound (220 grams), they’re not precisely light-weight, both. However Hersen makes the case that the tradeoffs are price it for the privateness the masks (allegedly) afford.

Skyted’s masks are constructed from sound-dampening materials that Simon developed whereas at ONERA, the French aerospace lab — initially for jet engines. They sync (through wire or wirelessly) to a smartphone app that provides a pass-through toggle to pipe speech by way of the cellphone’s speaker — minimizing the necessity to take away the masks. The app additionally calculates the wearer’s “voice stage” and exhibits insights into their “perceptibility” and “intelligibility,” type of like a Fitbit for speech.

The masks muffle 80% of a wearer’s voice, Skyted claims, whereas enhancing the amount in voice and video calls by isolating outdoors noise. They usually’ve been examined with “main” (albeit unnamed) transportation suppliers, with backing from each ONERA and the European Area Company.

To this reporter, although, the masks appear like a shot at the hours of darkness. Skyted’s advertising and marketing suggests as a lot.

On its web site, Skyted advertises… uncommon in-app options like a “voice consciousness” mode that lets mother and father quiet their noisy mask-donning youngsters whereas they’re enjoying video video games. (It’s not completely clear how this works; maybe energetic noise cancellation?) Skyted, in truth, pitches the masks as a extra “immersive” solution to play video games and even has a piece of its web site devoted to protection and army functions. Skyted claims to have labored with the French army and the Defence Innovation Company, France’s army R&D arm, to develop a customized masks solely for submariners and particular ops.

Picture Credit: Skyted

Skyted seems to be testing a medical masks of some kind too — which, taken with all the opposite sectors it’s going after, suggests a scarcity of focus. The scattershot go-to-market — coupled with the eye-watering $299 beginning value and low-tech competitors — doesn’t bode nicely for Skyted’s upcoming Kickstarter.

Then once more, Skyted managed to safe ~$1 million in seed funding final yr, in accordance to CrunchBase information. Maybe there’s a much bigger marketplace for face-mounted, sound-absorbing wearables than I assumed.