The SUPERvisor is an augmented face shield that strives to make the lives of first-response workers easier during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to come up with a promising prototype, the designers—who are students at Berkeley—interviewed five nurse practitioners, one medical director, and two military colonels. The problems that they identified were physical, temporal, and communicative.

The resulting augmented face shield solution is also extremely affordable—an estimated cost of about $10 USD. Users need to download a corresponding app and place it into the smartphone compartment that is integrated into the shield, right above the eyes. the contents of the screen are then reflected by a mirror onto the transparent shield below. The information displayed is helpful for conducting the work needed to be done efficiently and as safely as possible. This includes “the patient’s background and mood; test samples collected; and information about the test collector’s own health and safety, such as their body temperature, or a reminder to change their PPE.”

Image Credit: UC Berkeley