Computer programmer builds COVID-19 face mask with an array of LED lights that move like a mouth

Game designer and programmer Tyler Glaiel has created a clever new twist on the face mask for people frustrated by trying to communicate with their mouths covered during the COVID-19 pandemic. Glaiel's created a cloth face mask with a voice activated panel of LED lights on the front, which move whenever a person is speaking to simulate a mouth opening and closing. The array of 16 LED lights can also be used to make a smiling shape if the person wearing them makes a clicking noise with their tongue. 'I had a random idea for it,' Glaiel said in an interview with the BBC about the origins of the project. 'I was wondering if it existed, to have a face mask that just lighted up with mouth shapes and so I looked around online to see if there was anything I could feasibly buy to do this and there really wasn't anything there.'