Coronavirus: Orders flood in for $360 high-fashion BioVYZR hazmat helmet for air travel

Naomi Campbell started the trend, and now a company has rolled out its $360 travelling helmet.

The BioVYZR can be pre-ordered for $359. Picture: Vyzr Tech

Naomi Campbell started the trend and travellers encased in hazmat suits are coming to an airport near you soon.

In early March, as much of the western world was just beginning to adapt to the pandemic, Campbell posted photographs of herself flying from Los Angeles airport in a $29 hazmat suit, pink latex gloves and a Burberry cape. More than half a million people liked the pictures on Instagram.

The following month a Canadian entrepreneur unveiled his prototype for a $359 ($US250) personal protective travelling helmet on the crowd-funding site Indiegogo. The concept found an immediate clientele among nervous flyers, doctors, dentists, hairstylists and other people who anticipated long periods of exposure to strangers.

The BioVYZR features a built-in air purifying system to filter out pathogens, allergens, and pollutants. Picture: Vyzr Tech

Yezin Al-Qaysi, co-founder of VYZR Technologies, a Toronto company that previously invented a solar visor for use in the desert, said that he had 50,000 orders for the new gear. The company has already raised more than $760,000 ($US530,000) from 1500 backers.

The helmet is made from weatherproof silicone, neoprene and vinyl and weighs less than 1kg without the battery pack that powers a built-in fan. It is equipped with anti-fogging “windows” and air-purifying technology to provide what the company describes as “an unmatched degree of protection against airborne hazards in our daily environment”.

The BioVYZR has an anti-fogging face shield. Picture: Vyzr Tech

It includes reversible gloves to safely touch your face. Picture: Vyzr Tech

Mr Al-Qaysi told Bloomberg that wearers were only half a degree warmer with the helmet on, although they do gain four to five inches in height, which may complicate air travel for some customers who are already wary of their head clearance when flying.

It is not known whether Campbell, who is 1.78m, is among the early adopters awaiting delivery of a suit but Ginny Maxwell, a talent manager based in Nashville, bought four for her family.

“They give us a lot of peace of mind,” she said. “And the kids are excited to wear their ‘space helmets’. If nothing else, they will be a strange souvenir of this crazy time.”

The Times