This is such a Kafkaesque cyberpunk dystopian problem. This is needed because owners and managers want open offices for surveillance and coat cutting. They are also aware that only about half of workers thrive in those environments while the other have drops in productivity. Solution a cheap muzzle so that the workers who aren’t as productive in noisy environments aren’t disturbed.

Meanwhile could you imagine the smell of those things. You’d have to wash them everyday or have some kind of cover for them not to just have a permanent funk.