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We will all soon be true “Poseidon” thanks to the research work of a Japanese engineer and artist. Its 3D printed artificial gill system would allow you to breathe underwater. The device is called Amphibio and is inspired by the respiratory system of fish.
There is no need to disguise yourself as a survivor of Atlantis, to transform yourself into a little mermaid or other newt, to finally answer the call of the great blue of the bathroom. Because diving for a few seconds in the deep waters of your bathtub is no danger of suffocation. On the other hand, living permanently at the bottom of the sea without metamorphosing into a small fish is another story! This is why a Japanese researcher specializing in biomimetic engineering, i. e. who draws inspiration from nature to build his machines, is experimenting with artificial gills.
Within the multidisciplinary research unit of the Micro Lab, which brings together teams of scientists and artists from the University of Tokyo and the Royal College of Art in London, United Kingdom, this designer has developed an equipment for breathing underwater. He imagined this invention in anticipation of the rise in water levels caused by global warming by 2100. His system is simply called Amphibio. “All the material has been printed in 3D, Amphibio works the same way as a gill. My mask only keeps oxygen, it is intended to be used in the future, when the sea level will be higher,” the Japanese researcher argues.
Unusable in its current state but….
In practice, the device stores water, filters the oxygen it contains and evacuates the carbon dioxide released by the user’s lungs. No volunteer has yet tested his find. The Amphibio mask remains for the moment immersed in an aquarium, a tube connects it to a tank injecting a carbon dioxide gas mixture that corresponds to the concentration of CO2 when a person breathes.
This simple artistic demonstration of the concept seems in the unusable state in reality, the oxygen drawn from the water would be insufficient to meet the needs of normal breathing and the carbon dioxide tank is really cumbersome. But the engineer is not discouraged, he hopes to eventually offer a diving suit covered with his artificial gills, with the disadvantage of always dragging behind him a carbon dioxide bottle and another one containing a reserve of oxygen.
On the other hand, this beautiful project, which does not lack air, promises us, by the end of this century, to visit all the sunken worlds of our blue planet, soon submerged by the waves.