It has been a long time since I have been excited about a “game changing” device. That all changed when I learned about Triton’s underwater breathing gill. Basically, using this compact device you could breath underwater. The device would extract oxygen under water through a filter made of fine threads. After a little more research my excitement quickly evaporated.
According to Deeper Blue there have been some questions raised by experts (March 26, 2016):
- The device has to be able to extract enough oxygen from the water to allow you to actually breath. This is possible in theory however as pointed out in an article on Deep Sea News in 2014 (when the device first came to light as a concept) it requires not only an incredibly efficient ability to extract the oxygen – which the designers say is down to a new Microporous Hollow Fiber – but also water has to be forced through the device at upward of five liters every 15 seconds which could only be achieved with a pump bigger than the whole Triton design.
- Next is the issue of storing the gas in a chamber – this would require a compressor and battery “order of magnitude more efficient than anything on the market today”. The makers claim on the website that they have a “very powerful modified micro compressor” but again without any real proof.
- Let’s say they’ve managed to crack those two issues the next one is the ability to deliver the oxygen to you in the right amount at the right pressure to be able to breathe. This is possible as we see it in open-circuit Scuba systems and in Closed Circuit Rebreathers however, again, there is no technology on the market right now that can achieve such a feat in such a small design.
You get the idea, to read the entire article from Deeper Blue click here…
Well, believe it or not the story doesn’t end there. According to Digital Trends, “Following a large amount of criticism and controversy over their questionable “artificial gill” technology, the creators of the Triton scuba mask have canceled their crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, refunded all of the campaign’s backers, and relaunched with additional information (April 4, 2016).
To read the entire article from Digital Trends click here…
So what is this new information? According to Tritons indiegogo page, “Triton. A state-of-the-art oxygen respirator, that allows you to breathe underwater up to 45 minutes and at a maximum depth of 15ft by utilizing our ‘artificial gills’ technology & liquid oxygen technology.” The key here is the liquid oxygen technology. One could speculate there will be some kind of cartridges that you replace once depleted.
To drive the point home that their technology works, Triton released an uncut 12 min YouTube video showing a man sitting on the bottom of a pool breathing underwater. So, will you be a fish? In short, no. However, even in this more limited version I can see numerous applications (civilian and military), and I can only speculate that the depths and times will increase as technology matches the concept. Check out their website for more details here. Enjoy the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrT_KtdGFa8
We will have to wait for the release to determine if it works as advertised, but it’s an exciting concept. What are your thoughts on this device? Do you see yourself using it?
(Featured image courtesy of tritongills.com via appsrooster.com)
