cats

Well, yes.

The air doesn't actually harm the cat, and if one realizes that or doesn't care, the effect stops.

The point is to set up something that punishes the cat without your involvement. Another example is the way I set a metal measuring cup atop the toilet paper roll, for it to fall down whenever my cat went to rip it up. It only worked because the sound of metal hitting the tile floor scared the shit out of my boy. It took about a week for him to stop touching the tp, after thay he's never heard the sound again.

If you have a fearless beast, then this stuff isn't gonna work. But if you DO notice something that your cat avoids or doesn't like, find a way to use it (without harming your cat, ofc).