Diving in deep water and being able to swim for hours before resurfacing is possible these days through the use of bulky equipment. What if in the future it was possible to breathe underwater as fish do? It sounds totally unrealistic, or a scene from a fantasy movie, but in the future, it could become a reality and allow humans to inhabit the seas.
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image credit: Jun Kamei / Amphibio
For the moment, it is only a prototype created by the Japanese designer Jun Kamei in collaboration with the RCA-IIS Tokyo Design Lab. This underwater breathing device is incredibly light and is intended as a possible solution to a future rise in water levels, which seems inevitable. The designer explains: “ I looked at how our urban environment will evolve and I was deeply interested in the data relating to the rising waters. ” This 3D printed device actually works like a gill: it could allow humans to breathe underwater like fish and, in the more distant future, allow humans to inhabit the seas.
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image credit: Jun Kamei / Amphibio
The designer was inspired by the inhabitants of the seas, in particular underwater insects, to create this instrument called Amphibio . It consists of two parts: a vest and a mask , made from a water repellent material. This means that the material does not change in size or shape even when submerged in water for a long time: a material which therefore retains its original physical and chemical characteristics. In terms of how it works, Amphibio extracts oxygen from the waterin which it is immersed and dissipates carbon dioxide. So far, it has only been tested on a small scale, in an aquarium, and not in the marine environment. The next step in the project will be to demonstrate that it can be used by humans, although there are plenty of challenges. If previously breathing underwater without the help of bulky devices seemed a distant possibility, today it could become a reality: all that remains is to wait for the designer and researchers to carry out further studies and make the project a reality.
source used: CNN