Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2020

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Valve And Mask, Charlotte

This is a Valve and Mask. It was designed by Isinnova S.R.L., Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli. It is dated 2020. Its medium is 3d-printed plastic, scuba mask. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.

Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli are Italian engineers. Dr. Renato Favero asked them to create an open-source, 3D-printed valve to connect an air supply and filtration duct to the top of a snorkel mask, hacking the mask to create an assisted-breathing device. To date, 186,000 of these devices have been used around the world.

This object was donated by Isinnova S.R.L.. It is credited Courtesy of Cristian Fracassi.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D (Red connector): 3.2 × 6 × 2.5 cm (1 1/4 in. × 2 3/8 in. × 1 in.) H x W x D (Yellow valve): 4.4 × 8.9 × 7.6 cm (1 3/4 in. × 3 1/2 in. × 3 in.) H x W x D (Gray valve): 5.7 × 8.3 × 8.3 cm (2 1/4 × 3 1/4 × 3 1/4 in.) H x W x D (White valve): 5.7 × 8.3 × 8.3 cm (2 1/4 × 3 1/4 × 3 1/4 in.) H x W x D (Scuba mask): 30.5 × 20.3 × 10.2 cm (12 × 8 × 4 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Design and Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805616/ |title=Valve And Mask, Charlotte |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=12 May 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>