Aug 17, 2018 | By Thomas

Japanese designer Jun Kamei has created a 3D printed garment called Amphibio, “a gill garment for our aquatic future,” which he is presenting as part of his graduation thesis from London’s Royal College of Art (RCA).

Amphibio, the two-part 3D-printed accessory consists of a gill and a respiratory mask, is designed specifically for a future in which humankind lives in very close proximity with water.

"By 2100, a temperature rise of 3.2 degrees celsius is predicted to happen, causing a sea-level rise affecting between 500 million and three billion people, and submerging the megacities situated in the coastal areas," he explained.

The gill accessory is 3D printed from a microporous hydrophobic material, which allow air to pass through, but  stop any water from penetrating it. The system is able to extract oxygen from the surrounding water, and release carbon dioxide that accumulates in the system.

Inspired by the gills of a fish, its creator hopes the design could help mankind cope with rising sea levels and spent more time underwater.

"The technology was inspired from water diving insects which survive underwater by virtue of a thin layer of air trapped on their superhydrophobic skin surface, working as a gas exchanging gill," he said. "The newly developed material can be shaped in complex forms using recent additive manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing."

"It provides daily comfort to people who spend as much time in the water as on the land," Kamei said.

The system currently does not produce enough oxygen to sustain human breathing, but Kamei is planning to test AMPHIBIO to support underwater breathing at human scale, where a gill with at least 32 m2 would be required to support our oxygen consumption in water.

"If you are familiar with free diving and scuba diving equipment, Amphibio sits right in between those two,” Kamei added. “In a near future, it could allow the wearer to stay underwater longer than in free diving, but with less equipment than scuba diving."

Kamei is graduating from RCA with an MA in Innovation Design Engineering. He embarked on the project in collaboration with RCA-IIS Tokyo Design Lab, an international collaborative initiative between RCA and the University of Tokyo.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Application

 

 

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Steven Worthman wrote at 10/14/2018 8:25:19 AM:

Great scientific discovery starts this way As a mere breath. In 70 years It is a Unstoppable force. The only question remains Will it be treated like garbage science Before it's even started?

Jaime wrote at 8/21/2018 3:30:58 PM:

You might want to read the actual (peer reviewed) paper before claiming that it's bs; http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2017/SM/C7SM01411B#!divAbstract

Jesus bonaparte wrote at 8/20/2018 8:06:43 PM:

Something about oxygen and hydrogen molucules and wich one is bigger, but hey its art so dont take it serious :) smileyface

NoSpam wrote at 8/20/2018 2:36:56 AM:

Not the first art student project to try this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5ep2vUMJt0

John Smith wrote at 8/18/2018 4:08:53 PM:

This is all completely false! Other people have already tried this scam and succeeded. If you had any knowledge of chemistry you would know that oxygen molecules are LARGER than water molecules and thefore cannot be filtered out. This is just another terribly made scam and sadly the public is no longer educated enough to know the difference.

Dylan wrote at 8/18/2018 2:12:16 AM:

This is garbage science fiction



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