Inventors find ‚Silver Lining in COVID-19 Cloud‘ with New Talk-Through Face Mask, Miniature Loudspeaker and Telecommunications Emitter Developed at University of Pittsburgh.
Asheville, NC, Jun 6, 2020 — Joyce Mann, Chairman and CEO of Lenoir-based RMANNCO, Inc., announced today that RMANNCO, Inc. has caused the formal filing of Letters Patent Application drawn to a new means and method of communication and biocontrol protection while wearing any kind of face covering, such as surgical masks, plastic face shields or cloth face. The title of the invention is „Voice-Activated Talk-Through Safety Mask Appliance and Method“, called, ‚VATTSMA’™. See: https://doctorjoesoriginal.weebly.com/. The Inventors listed on the patent application are Ms. Joyce M. Mann and Dr. Joseph A. Resnick.
The new product has its foundations in three early patents issued by inventor, Resnick, while a student at the University of Pittsburgh Eye and Ear Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA where he developed ‚The Resnick Tone Emitter‘, known as the ‚Talking-Tooth‘, which issued as US Patent #4,571,739, Intraoral Electrolarynx; US Patent #4,706,292, Speech Prosthesis; and US Patent #5,015,179 Speech Monitor. See: https://tinyurl.com/y742blc7. Dr. Joe Resnick, a former NASA Scholar and Research Scientist, said, „Parts of those prior technologies are used in the new VATTSMA™ product for which letters patent protection is pending approval. Of particular value and use for the new product is the miniature loudspeaker and electronics ‚chip‘ we developed at Pitt in the 1980’s, as these are ‚fluid-resistant‘ and won’t be affected by moisture from breathing, talking, etc. A value-added feature is that the electronics package is removable allowing its use on new masks once original masks have become soiled or unwanted“. Resnick continued, „As an ‚Optimist‘, I like to find good outcomes in everything…even worst-case scenarios such as the COVID-19 Pandemic. I have always been aware of the problems communicating while wearing a surgical-type mask. This was problematic when I was a student at Pitt, nearly 40 years ago…and has remained problematic to this day…even in my own work in my own laboratory. Enter the new VATTSMA™ technology. Now, people wearing masks equipped with the amplification emitter who work in health care, in hospitals, etc., or government officials giving speeches or having to talk in public, will be able to do so without removing the mask and their speech will be more intelligible, more audible at 83 dB, which is just a little louder than speech during normal communication. So, to quote the old sayings, ‚Every cloud has a silver lining‘. And the VATTSMA™ technology represents a little piece of ’silver lining‘ that we have realized necessary and which fills a real-world need, despite this horrible Pandemic. ‚Fortune favors the Bold'“.
Since the declaration of the COVID-19 Pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, most of the world’s population has resorted to, or been mandated to, wearing some form of mask or face covering thought to help slow/stop the spread of the Corona Virus, COVID-19. According to the US Department of Commerce more than 2 Billion safety masks have been produced and used since the outbreak of the Corona Virus in January 2020. The US Department of Commerce reports that more than 300 Million N-95 masks have been ordered by various US government agencies since March 2020 with the US Military ordering millions more.
Mann said that the initial price for the individual VATTSMA™ unit will be around $20.00, and that a test-market study is being orchestrated on the ‚GoFundMe‘ Crowdfunding platform at https://tinyurl.com/yau4duub . Mann said, „That price should drop, significantly, as large orders are received and the units can be contracted and sold at retail by the tens-of-thousands“. Mann said, „Yes, they may seem a bit pricey, at first. But the retail price will fall, a function of supply and demand economics. As we receive more and more orders and these are passed along to our manufacturers, the electronics component price will fall, drastically. When that happens we will be able to offer the technology/masks for about the same retail price as an N-95 mask today“.
Mann said that RMANNCO, Inc., Licensee to the technology, is actively seeking JV partners to assist with global marketing of the VATTSMA™ product line because the potential market size is so large.
For Additional Information Contact:
Ms. Joy Mann, Chief Executive Officer
Email: Joy@rmannco.com
Phone: 478-244-2131
http://www.rmannco.com