When the Covid-19 pan­dem­ic made face masks an every­day essen­tial, Japan­ese start­up Donut Robot­ics spot­ted an oppor­tu­ni­ty. They cre­at­ed a smart mask — a high-tech upgrade to stan­dard face cov­er­ings, designed to make com­mu­ni­ca­tion and social dis­tanc­ing easier.