Transparent mask designed for the deaf

A transparent mask : Manufactured for the deaf

While the wearing of masks has become mandatory due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the NPO corporation in Yonago City, Tottori Prefecture received the voices of people with deafness that their mouths were covered and it became difficult to understand the contents of conversation. Therefore, they manufacture transparent masks that show the mouth and facial expressions. This mask is made by the NPO "Nishibe Roa Friends Salon Association" in Yonago City, which provides a place for people with deafness to interact with each other. On the 26th, 7 people participated in the work.

We manufactured transparent masks that show your mouth and facial expressions. First, we cut out a sheet of transparent resin along the pattern with scissors, then trimmed it into a shape that covers the mouth and attached laces to the ears. While the transparent mask has become worn due to the influence of the new coronavirus, we received sugession that the hearing impaired person could not see the movement and expression of the other person's mouth when talking with sign language and it was difficult to communicate.

The group will produce 350 pieces this month and donate them to Deaf schools and sign language interpreters in the prefecture.

A sign language interpreter, Kohei Ehara , put on a transparent mask at a press conference of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on April 15, and praised the voices. Ehara, who says that wearing a transparent mask makes us feel cloudy and oppressive, is a staff member of the Tokyo Sign Language Interpreter Dispatch Center and has extensive experience in sign language interpretation. Ehara, even if the hospital asks the hospital to wear a mask when a sign language interpreter accompanies a client with a hearing impairment, the mask can be lowered to the jaw so that the client can see his mouth.

Source: http://shorturl.at/lmyFJ