Designer and material scientist Jun Kamei is looking ahead toward solutions to help people adapt to the sea level rise caused by climate change, predicted its effects upon between 0.5 – 3 billion globally along some of our most populous cities. His vision Amphibio is a 3D printed amphibious garment designed to work with, not against, the possibility many of us will increasingly live in close proximity to water.
AMPHIBIO by Jun Kaemi is made out of special porous hydrophobic material that supports underwater breathing by replenishing oxygen from surrounding water. It dissipates carbon dioxide that accumulate in the system. Inspired by water diving insects, there’s a high possibility that human can survive underwater with this technology. There’s a thin layer of air trapped on the insect’s superhydrophobic skin surface, it works as a gas exchanging gill. This new developed material creates a complex form using recent additive manufacturing technology, 3D printing. Kaemi says that the next step would be to test AMPHIBIO at human scale, the gill would be at least 32m2 to support our oxygen consumption in water.
In not so distant future with further optimization of the material,a human can stay underwater for longer, without the heft of current diving equipment.
Designer Jun Kaemi
