Pollution Mask | Customisable | Totobobo

The current H1N1 flu triggered a sudden increase in sales of face masks and Totobobo, the first customizable face mask, is now hitting 25 countries across the world. This is a new milestone for the company, Dream Lab One, the producer of the Totobobo mask.

Travelers, cyclists, wood-turners and artists alike have found this reusable mask highly effective in blocking out polluted air and various irritants. Sales of this reusable mask has increased significantly and it has received rave reviews from users around the world.

“This mask may have saved my life. First, the mask is made out of a rubbery material, so it sticks naturally to your skin. After I found the perfect position on my face for my mask, I no longer have any problems with breathing…at all…period. My nose has cleared up, my eyes are no longer irritated, I don’t cough or sneeze at all anymore. It’s comfortable and it doesn’t fog my glasses! I hardly know I’m wearing it!” said Paula Ford, a satisfied Totobobo user and a pastel artist residing in Tennessee, United States.

Individuals who rely a lot on respiratory masks tend to live in environments that contain either polluted air or airborne disease pathogens. An effective mask helps to filter out polluted air and airborne virus. There are two conditions that determine whether a respiratory mask is effective. First, it needs to seal the wearer’s nose and mouth snugly. Second, the filter material must be able to filter out the smallest of particles.

“Money can buy high quality filters, but a good seal has been a hit-or-miss affair,” said Francis Chu, the designer of the revolutionary mask. His design provides a simple and intuitive solution call VSC (Visual-Seal-Check) for the user to check the face-seal.

Easy Visual-Seal-Check (VSC):
To ensure good respiratory seal, normal N95 mask users can only rely on their ability to feel the air-leak around their face. Such method is not reliable and sometimes it gives a fault sense of security. Francis believes his transparent mask allows users to check the seal intuitively and to ensure minimal seepage of polluted air.

To verify this, he sent the mask to a hospital and compared the Visual-Seal-Check (VSC) with the gold standard respirator fit-test, a high-end quantitative system called PortaCount from TSI Incorporated. The result showed strong correlation (90%) between the prediction of the Visual-Seal-Check (VSC) method and the result of the gold standard fit-test proving his intuitive method effective.

“The Visual-Seal-Check, or VSC, is much more reliable than the seal check found in other N95 masks. This study shows that face-seal can be determined simply by checking the seal through the transparent mask,” says Francis.

Over half of the recent orders are coming from parents traveling with children. They appreciate the possibility to customize the mask to fit their young children. With the VSC they are more reassured that their children are getting the optimal protection.

To buy Totobobo mask (International)
To buy Totobobo mask in Singapore

Singapore, 2009-06-15
Francis was invited by the Curriculum Planning and Development Division of the MOE to give a talk to a group of D&T teachers about the design process of the Totobobo mask. He demonstrated how to put on and take off the Totobobo mask during the presentation.

“I was motivated to find a solution to protect my children after the SARS incidents,” Francis explained. “None of the N95 mask fit children because they were all designed and certified for adults in an occupational context.” To ensure protection, the mask must fit the user’s face snugly and form a good seal. Most people do not realise that and think they are safe by wearing an N95 mask. In fact, they need to validate the seal by undergoing a fit-test conducted by a qualified facilitator and using specialised equipment to check the seal.
A study at Prince of Wales Hospital suggested that 1 in 4 healthcare workers thought they had a good seal, but in fact, it was not.
Another study, “Respiratory Donning in Post-Hurricane New Orleans” (published on the US CDC website in May 2007), further highlights the challenge of achieving a good seal. The researchers found that 76% of participants were unable to demonstrate proper donning for a good seal, and their protection was compromised.

After experimenting with hundreds of handmade prototypes, the solution that Francis came up with was remarkably simple- construct the mask with transparent material, and you can immediately see where it touches the skin, or not. To validate this principle, he compared the results of a fit-tested Totobobo mask with the visual-check prediction. The result achieved more than 90% accuracy, offering significantly higher predictability than any other mask available on the market. In a practical sense, the Totobobo mask comes with its built-in fit-tester.

To cater for the face size of small children, Francis developed a unique method to attach the strap to the mask. Unlike all competitive products, the strap of the Totobobo mask is not attached to the edge of the mask, but positioned away from it. This new method allows the mask to be trimmed to easily fit all children aged 5 years and older. Such an approach would appear unthinkable because in a normal mask design, you would cut off the strap as well. However, upon reviewing the handmade prototypes, the solution appears logical: Francis has been cutting a large number of masks to fit his children.

The D&T teachers and the guests were impressed by the innovation. “Can I buy the Totobobo mask for my students in the Art & craft class?” asked one of the teachers. “Sure, and you will get a special education discount too,” Francis answered with a smile.

The session concluded with enthusiastic discussions among the teachers, many of whom saw potential in using the Totobobo mask as a real-world case study for their students. Its innovative design—combining functionality, adaptability, and user safety—serves as a compelling example of how engineering and creativity can address everyday challenges.

As schools continue to emphasise hands-on, problem-based learning, inventions like the Totobobo mask may soon find their way into classrooms, inspiring the next generation of designers and engineers. For now, Francis’s journey stands as a testament to the power of persistence, ingenuity, and the drive to protect what matters most.

— End —

We are very pleased to welcome our first local retail outlet, Medic Drugstore Pte Ltd to be on board.
No more emailing and calling concerning timing of shipment, you can simply go to the shop and pick up the Totobobo mask before your flight.

Conveniently Situated in Tanjoing Pager Plaza, it is very near to the Tanjoing Pager MRT Station. along Tanjoing Pager Road, right opposite to Amara Hotel. The unit number is #01-26/27, take note. It is just around the around Block 1 when you reach the end of Block 1,

The address:
Medic Drugstore Pte Ltd
Blk 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza #01-26/27
Singapore 082001

Coontact:
Mrs Adelyn Loo / Tel: 62244842

Openning hour:
Mon-Fri 8:30am to 7pm,
Saturday 8:30am to 5pm

Or you can Buy online from Singapore

MyPaper June 10, 2009

Recently we travel to Taiwan and Hong Kong. To be on the safe side we all put on our Totobobo mask on the plane and in the airport. Who knows the one sitting next to you can be coming from a H1N1 flu infected country? This was the “acid test” to see if the mask really work in the context of air travel.

I’ve customized the masks for the two boys and Sharon in advance. So that part is not an issue. Putting it on was easy for Sharon and the younger boy, but it was confusing for the elder one. It turn out that the strap of his mask got entangled a bit and he couldn’t slide the strap along easily. I help him to remove the rubber band and disentangle the strap. He mange to put it on afterward.

A point to note about customization, it is not always true that smaller face need smaller mask. If it fit and seal well, a larger Totobobo mask is usually more comfortable to wear. So if you find the mask too big, start by trimming it a step, never jump to the smallest size immediately. You may find an intermediate size that seal very well and is comfortable to wear even for a long time.

Wearing the mask for an hour or so is not uncomfortable. In fact we pretty much forgot about it because it didn’t interfere with what we do. We all wear glasses, sometimes we read magazine, sometimes we watch TV and sometimes I was busy taking photos 😉

We had to remove our masks when the food came. We just remove the top strap, pull the mask down such that the contracted top strap now keeps the mask closed, and we just let the mask hang around our neck while eating. We put the mask back after the meal. The elder son fall asleep and the younger one kept watching TV.

I noticed many passenger used surgical masks. One family of three used N95 cup-shaped mask. But the huge N95 mask was not fitting the child and clearly he was not getting much more protection than those wearing surgical mask.

Some curious passenger ask where we got the mask from and even the stewards are interested in it. The surgical mask they wear is not giving them the protection they really need. It’s a pity that they have to face so many people from all over the world during the trip but not getting the protection they deserved. Anyone with friends working as air steward? Perhaps you should let them know about Totobobo.

Leaving the plane, we took off our mask when we were shopping in the airport shops, there seems to be more space between people and none of the staff or customers looked sick. Keeping it hanging around the neck was most appropriate because we needed to put on the mask again when we go through the next risk spot- the crowded custom.

Edited: 2018-11-20

How to put on your Totobobo mask?
With the new earloop design, you can put on your Totobobo mask just like a regular surgical mask, easy and comfortable plus the extra sealed-protection of Totobobo mask.

If you don’t like the earloop style, you can also extend the earloop and connect them at the back of your head with the included “adaptor”, as shown in the picture below:

Related articles:

Choosing the perfect mask for cycling in the City

How to remove, disentangle and reinstall the elastic strap?

Sometimes the strap may get entangled and become difficult to use. This short video shows how to remove the strap from the mask and make it easy to disentangle it.

Saw this from Japanprobe.com today. Very interesting video showing how the small particles (0.3~ 5 micron) spread when someone sneeze with or without a mask:

The 96% filter contains electro-static charges and is highly effective to trap fine dusts and particles even below 0.3 micron. The filtration efficiency is 96%, one percent higher than typical N95 mask. Advantage: It is easy to breathe (but more difficult than 94%) while maintaining high level of protection.

When you put on the Totobobo mask installed with the 96% filter, you will feel the “suction” effect more prominently as you inhale.
This filter is not NOISH certified.

The 96% filter is now available for purchase.