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Journal of Mechanical and Electrical Intelligent System (JMEIS, J. Mech. Elect. Intel. Syst.)

An international open-access peer-reviewed journal

ISSN 2433-8273

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Vol.9, No.1

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A Phased Social Experiment Plan for Public-Oriented PAPRs in Cebu City — Toward Social Implementation of PAPR for Everyone and Field Evaluation During Influenza Seasons —

Yusaku Fujii and Ronald M. Galindo

Journal of Mechanical and Electrical Intelligent System, Vol.9, No.1, pp.1-11, 2026.

Abstract: During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing, facility closures, stay-at-home restrictions, and lockdowns were widely used to suppress transmission, but these measures also had major effects on daily life, economic activity, education, and social participation. The author has proposed “PAPR for Everyone,” an approach that uses positive-pressure powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) designed for the general public to reduce inhalation exposure directly through engineering means. Previous work has addressed the required population use rate, low-cost prototypes, measurement of respiratory state and leakage, time-managed use, a wear-rate management network, and privacy protection. This paper connects these accumulated results to a research plan that can be tested in real-world settings. The Cebu region of the Philippines is envisaged as the field site. Research collaboration with the region originated in international cooperation in precision measurement and later developed into joint work on low-cost PAPRs. Cebu also experienced prolonged and stringent mobility restrictions during COVID-19, providing a practical context in which alternatives that reduce infection risk while maintaining social activity are worth examining. The proposed Cebu Social Experiment Program consists of Phase 1 (preliminary evaluation of donning and operability), Phase 2 (evaluation of use in everyday environments), Phase 3 (a small-scale social experiment including networked monitoring), and Phase 4 (a prospective field study during seasonal influenza or other respiratory-infection periods). In the final phase, actual PAPR wearing time, rather than a simple user/non-user classification, is treated as a principal exposure variable in exploring its association with infection incidence. A preceding Viewpoint in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance argued why positive-pressure exposure control should be positioned as a subject of formal public health evaluation. The present paper instead specifies how such evaluation could be conducted, in what sequence, and with which research outcomes. The social experiments proposed here have not yet been conducted; this paper does not report experimental results.

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