Active noise-canceling headphones are a useful way to tune out unwanted noises, but what if you want to mute unwanted sounds at the source instead? Say you’re in a sensitive phone call, or you’re unleashing a tirade of expletives while gaming? There is also a device for that.although it does not seem as comfortable to wear as headphones.

Depending on how you spend your free time, mutalk, from a company called Shiftall (which belongs to Panasonic)looks like a miniature virtual reality headset or an accessory of sadomasochism, but it is not.

Unlike VR headsets, which is strapped to the head and covers the wearer’s eyes, the mutalk is strapped to the head and placed over the wearer’s mouth. Inside the mutalk is a microphone and Bluetooth hardware that picks up the…