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  • 2015-11-04 (xsd:date)
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  • Triton 'Tankless' Scuba Mask -- Real or Vaporware? (en)
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  • In November 2013, South Korean designer Jeabyun Yeon unveiled his concept for a Portal Oxygen Respirator dubbed Triton, a device that would allow people to breather underwater simply by biting it, at the Samsung Art and Design Institute (SADI) graduation exhibition: Yeon's concept proved popular, and in March 2014 the web site Inhabitat published an article about the nifty design. While that article correctly described the Triton as a conceptual scuba mask and noted that the design is just a concept that may someday be turned into a commercial product, the article's headline (Triton Scuba Mask Transforms Divers into Human Fish) misled some readers into believing that the Triton was a fully developed, workable, real product. An IndieGogo page dedicated to raising funds for the project explains how the Triton gills supposedly work: However, as more skeptical reports have noted, the Triton is far more concept than product, and not necessarily a concept that will ever be realizable: Yeon uploaded a video on 20 February 2016 supposedly showing a working prototype of a set of Triton gills, but given the number of cuts in the video (such that the diver is never seen fully underwater for an extended period of time and could simply be holding his breath), it's not possible to determine if the product shown actually works as claimed: After the release of the promotional video, more articles expressed some of the same doubts about the viability of such a device, and more: Other commentators began question whether the Indiegogo campaign to fund development of the Triton gill device might not be a scam, given the extreme scientific unlikelihood that such a device could be built with existing technology and the lack of evidence for Triton's having produced anything beyond a mere concept: On 1 April 2016, Triton published an update announcing the release of a new video showing the product in action. They also disclosed that the Triton requires the use of 'liquid oxygen' cylinders, and that they had decided to refund the donations of all the backers who had contributed to so far and launch a new campaign: (en)
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