---
title: "Disturbing-Looking Face Mask Has “Pac-Man”-Style Mouth Hole"
description: "An Israeli inventor has developed a creepy-looking face mask that can open up \"Pac-Man\"-style to allow the wearer to have a bite."
date: "2020-05-19"
modified: "2020-05-19"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/face-mask-pac-man-mouth-hole"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "Prosthetics and Devices"
tags:
  - "coronavirus"
  - "covid19"
  - "mask"
  - "masks"
---

# Disturbing-Looking Face Mask Has “Pac-Man”-Style Mouth Hole

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/pac-man-face-mask-eating-hole-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Reuters\</em\>*

An Israeli inventor has developed a creepy-looking face mask that can open up "Pac-Man"-style to allow the wearer to take a bite — without taking off the mask.

To open the hole, the wearer squeezes a mechanical switch.

"The mask will be opened mechanically by hand remote or automatically when the fork is coming to the mask," Asaf Gitelis, vice president of Avtipus Patents and Inventions who demonstrated the mask, [told *Reuters*](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-israel-mask/mask-in-a-restaurant-this-one-can-gobble-like-pac-man-idUSKBN22U1ZO>).

"Then you can eat, enjoy, drink and you take out the fork and it will be closed, and you’re protected against the virus and other people sitting with you," he added.

It's unclear how such a contraption would be able to open automatically.

The device will reportedly cost anywhere between $0.85 to $2.85 on top of the price of a standard surgical mask.

One passerby who was shown a video of the device on the streets of Tel Aviv told *Reuters* he sees one major potential flaw with the invention: "I don’t think this mask could hold this kind of ice cream — it’s dripping all over. I wouldn’t want to wear it afterward."

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)