Breathing underwater like a Jedi–LIES!!!

Update: sadly, none of this seems to be true. The Triton guys have returned all their money to their backers; their technology is not what they claimed. Here’s a link from our friends at Deeper Blue explaining the fiasco. So disappointing!

One of the (only) cool things about the movie Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was the little device Obi Wan and Qui-Gon stuck into their mouthes to breathe underwater–no heavy air tanks, no compressor to recharge, just a hand-held device you can carry around in your Jedi robes. According to Wookiepedia (god, I love the internet), the A99 aquata breather could supply oxygen to a swimmer for about two hours.

Guys. It’s real.

Triton, “the world’s first artificial gills re-breather,” popped up in an Indigogo email this morning. Charging off a lithium-ion battery, it filters oxygen out of the water.

Photo from the Indigogo site. Visit immediately.

How amazing is this device for cruisers? It allows for hull cleaning, anchor recovery operations, or straight-up reef exploration for so much less money than the cost of a full dive kit. There’s no training like for SCUBA, it weighs next to nothing, and it takes up less space than your snorkeling fins.

Of course, there are limits. According to the website, the Triton only works for 45 minutes on a two-hour charge. Max depth is 15 feet, so you’re not taking it to the abyssal plain. And this is an Indigogo funding campaign, so there’s some risk to purchase–you’re investing in a start-up company that could still go under, taking your money with it. But still–this is the type of technology that makes me stand amazed at the world.