CES 2022
We found the must-have face mask for your next rave
The Qudi smart LED face mask can be programmed to show emotions like happiness, anger, shock, and even love. Its 199 LEDs also double as a music equalizer.
Well, it looks like I got the mask part of my cyberpunk ninja costume all figured out. Qudi Mask had its debut at CES 2022, hailing itself as the world’s first emotional LED mask. LED masks have been around for a bit, but man do they look awful. At least the Qudi Mask looks like it actually embraced the LED-clothing aesthetics when it was designed.
People at CES 2022 were seen trying on the Qudi Mask, which can be programmed to express several emotions, react to head movements and speech, or just loop some cool LED patterns.
What’s even cooler is the Qudi Mask was designed by Mike Chumachenko, a Ukrainian teenager who had the idea to combine his love for breakdancing and programming for the mask’s first prototype. Chumachenko told The Odessa Journal that the first Qudi Mask prototype only had 30 pixels and was built as simple as possible.
Big upgrade — Now, the improved Qudi Mask features translucent eye goggles and a bottom half that has 199 smart LED pixels. When the mask is in robot mode, you can nod your head up and down and the mask will light up green and produce a big LED YES on the mouth portion, and if you shake your head from side to side, the mask will turn red with a NO instead.
The robot mode makes the mask’s digital mouth match your speech. You can program the mask for six of its built-in emotions, including smile, love, shocked, confused, angry, and cat. Yes cat, because don’t we all feel a little bit cat sometimes?
The Qudi mask can even be set to equalizer mode where it will react to music being played. If you can’t make up your mind, just set it to demo mode where the mask will alternate between all the built-in animations every five seconds. You can change animations manually by pressing a button under the logo, but you can also pair the LED mask with the Qudi app for even easier switching between modes. The app also lets you program any text you want to glide across the mask.
According to the Qudi website, a full charge on the mask should last at least three hours depending on which mode you’re using. A full charge through a standard phone charge will take about 1.5 hours.
Shipping soon — The adjustable mask weighs about 290 grams, or a little over half a pound, and is not waterproof. If you’re wondering if you can wear this as a mask as PPE, the website says that the Qudi Mask is not secured against the bottom half of your face and air can go in and out easily.
The masks come in two colors, black and white, and will cost you $289. According to the website, orders made before December 26 will start shipping out January 15, with free worldwide shipping. Not cheap, but definitely a convo starter no matter where you wear it.
