The Transformair Zaps Air Clean

With pollution and allergens on the rise – inside and outside the home – air filtration systems have become increasingly popular appliances for home use. The problem has been most air purifiers are usually large, loud, and barely portable. The Transformair attempts to address these problems with a form factor that puts portability at the forefront by design.

Chemical Engineer Dr. Yogi Goswami of University of South Florida previously earned recognition working on solar energy. Transformair’s founders Jaya and Dilip Rao connected design studio Herbst Produkt (whose portfolio includes Logitech, The Home Depot, Clorox, Crate & Barrel, CB) with Goswami and prototype specialists, Highway1 in attempt to meet this challenge between balancing maximum air quality all with a less intrusive form factor which could comfortably be used in a home minus the eyesore factor.

Their solution, the Transformair, bears more resemblance to a boutique brand portable wireless speaker than air purification unit. But unlike other similarly shaped cylindrical units like the Muji Jet Cleaning Air Purifier or the Dyson Pure Cool air purifier – which uses a glass HEPA filter to capture particles from the air – the Transformair uses a high intensity UV-A light to kill floating allergens and unwelcome microscopic guests like bacteria, viruses, and mold. Additionally, the unit has an induction powered base for charging the top-handled unit; users could carry the top module with its built-in handle to dock into multiple base units throughout a home as needed, controlling the unit’s features via a compatible app.

Rao and the Transformair company are currently in the funding stage, with hopes of making the leap from prototype to consumer product:

I’m hoping to go from our functional prototypes to something we can manufacture at scale. We’d also like to develop an iconic air purifier. We hear from people all the time that they don’t really know what an air purifier looks like. We want to define the standard of what an air purifier is.