Face mask for deaf and hard-of-hearing people

A face mask with a clear window so lips stay readable, designed by NUS students and made real in flexible resin with a formed visor.

Client: Wen Pei
Service: Product Development & Prototyping
Who designed it: NUS students, with us on design for manufacturing
What it is made of: Rubber-like resin and a thermoformed clear visor
Why it was needed: During COVID-19, masks hid the lips people read

Make your design real Send a brief

What we brought

What we can do
We make student designs manufacturable
The NUS team led the design; we prepared it for manufacturing and had every part made.
How we look after you
Flexible where it meets the face
The body and vent covers were printed in a rubber-like resin, then primed and finished in matt black.
What you get
A clear window, formed rather than printed
The visor was thermoformed on a core and cavity mould, so the wearer's lips stay readable.

Gallery

The whole project at a glance. Drag or swipe to browse; tap a picture to enlarge it.

1 / 9

The finished piece
The finished mask, vent covers and ear loops.
The finished mask, turned in the hand.
ProductionThe resin parts, still on their supports.
The mask body before support removal.
Build and assemblyA set of parts in raw orange resin.
The side vent grille, before its cover.
The vent cover in place.
A finished vent cover, marked WP.

The build

How we built it

4 steps, from the brief to the finished piece. Pick a step to jump to it.

The brief

Step 1 of 4

Mouth: A clear window, so lips can be read
Fit: A flexible body against the face
Breathing: A covered vent on each side

At Additive Inn, our 3D printing studio in Singapore, we turned a face mask designed by NUS students into real parts. During COVID-19, masks hid the lips that deaf and hard-of-hearing people read, so this one needed a clear window over the mouth.

Production

Step 2 of 4

We prepared the students' design for manufacturing. The body and vent covers were printed in a flexible, rubber-like resin, shown here still on their supports. The clear visor was thermoformed on a core and cavity mould.

The orange resin mask body, visor frame and two vent covers standing on their lattice of print supports against a black background — The resin parts, still on their supports.

The mask body before support removal.

Build and assembly

Step 3 of 4

We primed the parts and finished them in matt black, then fitted the clear visor into the body, set the vent covers over the side grilles and added the ear loops. As separate parts, the mask can be taken apart for cleaning.

A set of mask parts laid out on a black surface: the orange body, the clear visor in its frame, two orange vent covers and two white ear loops — A set of parts in raw orange resin.

Close-up of the orange mask body from the side, showing the perforated vent grille and the slot for the ear loop — The side vent grille, before its cover.

The orange mask body from the side with its vent cover fitted, marked with a sound-wave symbol — The vent cover in place.

A hand holding a matt black vent cover cut with a sound-wave symbol around the initials WP — A finished vent cover, marked WP.

The final build

Step 4 of 4

The finished mask is matt black, with a clear window over the mouth so the wearer's lips can be read. Each vent cover carries a sound-wave mark, a quiet sign that the wearer may be hard of hearing.

The finished black mask with its clear visor, laid between its two black vent covers and two white ear loops on a grey surface — The finished mask, vent covers and ear loops.

More product development

See all product development →

Face mask for deaf and hard-of-hearing people

What we brought

We make student designs manufacturable

Flexible where it meets the face

A clear window, formed rather than printed

Gallery