A onesie that purifies polluted air? Beijing Design Week exhibits wearable filter BB.Suit 2.0

The suit also has an air quality sensor to test carbon monoxide, methane and liquid petroleum gas in the surrounding environment

What if your clothes could filter pollution as you glide through it?

This is an idea not just posed by a group of Dutch designers but implemented – ready to unveil at Beijing Design Week.

The BB.Suit 2.0 takes wearable technology to another level by using textiles to tackle the social and environmental issue of air pollution.

Made by Borre Akkersdijk in collaboration with Martijn ten Bhomer from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eva de Laat, Daan Spangenberg Graphics, StudioFriso and Want, the material is has an “integrated air quality sensor” which can analyse air pollution depending on the user’s data and map it accordingly.

This sensor “measures the concentration of carbon monoxide, methane and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in the surrounding air, Dutch magazine Want says.

Most importantly, though, the suit itself uses Squair’s patented technology Cold Plasma.

Want adds: “This technology can split oxygen and water molecules into free radicals. These radicals react easily with toxic gases, bacteria, viruses and dust in order to clean the air.

“Since our clothing is constantly in contact with the air surrounding us it creates an opportunity to clean the polluted air.”

The developers had previously created a similar onesie integrated with wi-fi, Bluetooth and a music library and showcased it at SXSW earlier this year.

However, when thinking of a product to take to Beijing Design Week, decided to grapple with the local issue of polluted urban environments, which China is notorious for.

“The BB.Suit started because everyone was talking about wearable technology, the bracelets, the glasses," Akkersdijk told Dezeen. “We thought about how we could really integrate the electrical threads and sensors and not just stick them on.

Akkersdijk added: “Cold plasma technology is a really high voltage that splits up the particles in the air. It grabs the dust and then it drops, so all the bad particles in the air go down to the ground.

“There's always issues about air pollution in Beijing.”

Akkersdijk also confirmed that the clothing isn’t going into mass production: “We can't currently sell the suits, because it's way too difficult to wash them, but it's the first step.”

The ‘BB.Suit: Wearable Clean Air’ exhibition can be found at Yangmeizhu Xiejie 59, Dashilar, Xicheng District, Beijing, until 3 October.