Relationship between human exhalation diffusion and posture in face-to-face scenario with utterance

Abstract

Because of the COVID-19, the world has been affected significantly. Not only health and medical problems but also the decline in life quality and economic activity due to the suspension of social activities cannot be disregarded. It is assumed that the virus is transmitted through coughing and sneezing; however, the possibility of airborne infection by aerosols containing viruses scattered in the air has become a popular topic recently. In airborne infections, the risk of infection increases when the mucous membrane is exposed to exhaled aerosols for a significant amount of time. Therefore, in this study, we visualize human breath using the smoke of electronic cigarettes as tracer particles. Exhalation when speaking was visualized for four human posture patterns. The result shows that the exhaled breath is affected by the body wall temperature; it rises when it remains in the boundary layer by wearing a mask. On the other hand, without a mask, it initially flows downward due to the structure of the nose and mouth, so it flows downward due to inertia and diffuses randomly. This finding is effective in reducing the risk of infection during face-to-face customer service.