Daikin to offer personal 'clean rooms' for germ-wary consumers

Pandemic ventilation and air conditioning seen as growing market

A coworking space in Tokyo will soon be home to Daikin's personal clean rooms designed to keep pollen and other particulates out. (Photo courtesy of Daikin)

RISA KAWABA and KANA WATANABE, Nikkei staff writers

June 25, 2020 06:18 JST

TOKYO/OSAKA -- In a time when more and more of the world’s consumers are becoming obsessed with microbes, a project led by air conditioning maker Daikin Industries is set to offer a germaphobe’s dream: technology-enhanced clean rooms.

The phone booth-sized chambers will become available next month. They will have high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters produced by Nippon Muki to keep pollen and other particulates away, and constantly move the air inside downward to help with cleanliness.