Colorado Entrepreneurs Meet Mask Challenges With Inventions

DENVER (CBS4) - If you haven't heard, Colorado is one of several states now under a mask mandate. That means if you are going to an indoor public place, you have to mask up.

"I don't see masks going away anytime soon," said entrepreneur Ryan Lee. "I think a lot of experts don't see them going away any time soon."

There are lots of different masks you can buy; N95, surgical, cloth and even masks made for exercise. That's because wearing a mask creates some challenges. One of them being you can't eat or drink with your mouth covered.

"You know as places start to open across the country and across the world, how are people going to go to bars? Restaurants? Even going out shopping?" said Lee.

That's why he decided to solve this problem. He created the "Redee Mask" a mask that covers your face, but still allows you to enjoy beverage.

"There's nothing to expose you at all. There's just this flap. They can enjoy their water coffee or tea," he said.

Aaron Hsu is another entrepreneur who saw a need and addressed it. In 2017, he had a deaf friend who went into surgery, but couldn't communicate with her doctors because sign language is more than just hand motions.

"What a lot of people don't realize is how much of sign language is not just in the hands," he said. "A lot of it is just facial expressions."

Now as COVID-19 is requiring everyone to wear masks, he says his invention "The Clearmask," while originally made to help the deaf, is returning to every day interactions.

"Bringing back that sense of human-ness that I think a lot of us have realized is gone."

LINKS: Redee Mask | Clear Mask