The World’s Smartest Mask
Some Examples of “Exaptation” During the Pandemic of 2020
This pandemic has changed a lot of things about the world we live in. The way we communicate with people, the way we shop, the way we go about our everyday lives — it’s all changed.
Every day we go to our computers and sit for hours going to school or going to work. Everything is remote now. The way we came together (or apart depending on the way you look at it) to make everything remote and adapt to a more distant society is very impressive.
Steven Johnson wrote a book way back in 2010, obviously pre-pandemic, called Where Good Idea Come From, and in this book he discussed these patterns that innovations come out of. The Adjacent Possible, Liquid Networks, The Slow Hunch, Serendipity, Error, Exaption, and Platforms are all ideas that Johnson discussed in his book. But can these patterns and ideas be applied to the innovations that came out of the pandemic?
One of Johnson’s patterns, Exaption, is the idea that innovations from one field can come from a completely unrelated field. Because of the pandemic masks are being worn constantly by people. Companies from all over the world are making innovations when it comes to mask technology. Even companies that don’t usually do work in that field are getting into it.
During CES 2021, gaming company Razer claims that they’ve made the world’s smartest face mask. You probably wouldn’t expect that from a company that usually makes gaming-oriented products but the mask market is huge at the moment, so the company is taking full advantage. This mask has a cool new patented feature called “voiceamp”. It allows your voice to be more clear and less muffled. There is a built-in microphone and amplifier to make this possible. The mask will also be transparent so people can see your face. The mask also has a “low light mode”.
This means that the mask’s interior lights up when it’s dark. Razer claims “this allows you to express yourself clearly regardless of the lighting conditions”(BBC). According to the BBC the mask, “Includes active ventilation — exhaling warmer exhaled air whilst pulling in cooler air”(BBC).
YouTube and Zoom: Case Studies in the Adjacent Possible
For example, Youtube would’ve failed back in 1995, but in 2005 it thrived and still does today. During the pandemic one company rose above the rest like a phoenix from the ashes. Zoom gained traction faster than any other video calling and chat platform during the pandemic.
“The adjacent possible is a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself …[ the adjacent possible] captures both the limits and the creative potential of change and innovation.”(Johnson, 31).
Steven Johnson’s book, Where Good Ideas Come From, is great at explaining the adjacent possible in the simplest of terms. Some inventions are ahead of their time and if they came out earlier they would’ve failed.
Zoom is now universally used for almost everything. Whether it’s a school gym class or a meeting between high-ranking officials, Zoom is used for everything. If Zoom hadn’t been out then we wouldn’t be as connected as we are at this point in the pandemic. Because of Zoom, you can see your grandparents without putting them in danger.
The pandemic wasn’t a good thing obviously, but it shows that we as a human race can adapt quickly to the dire situations we are put in. We need to all work from home so we don't get sick? BOOM, Zoom comes in to save the day. Do we need better masks? KABLAM, Razer makes a super sweet mask that helps with ventilation and visibility. There are a bunch of other innovations that came out of the pandemic and not even by scientists or professionals. Now that’s pretty innovative.
