UnMask

Air pollution masks are designed to hide the face. UnMask inverts this — it makes invisible emotions visible while filtering invisible pollutants.

The mask reads facial expressions and displays the wearer's emotional state on an LED matrix on its surface. In cities where masks are a daily necessity — China, Japan — they obscure the subtle reactions essential to human connection. UnMask asks what we lose when we cover our faces, and whether technology can give something back.

To develop the project, Simone spent several months travelling through China and Japan, conducting street interactions and pop-up discussions about masks and emotional communication with the public.

Collaboration with Paul Adams. Featured in DesignBoom, Engadget, Hypebeast, and Prosthetic Knowledge.