This scuba mask concept lets divers swim without tanks
New nanomaterials that can filter and separate out a wide variety of chemicals, organic materials and particulates have many uses, from filtering pollutants from seawater to filtering bacteria from blood.
Key takeaways
- The gases are then compressed and stored in a miniature tank, ready for the diver to breathe.
- The average human needs 500mls of air with every breath - going in, the air has a 21% oxygen concentration and a 16% concentration coming out, for a total of around 25mls of oxygen intake with every breath.
- Scientific literature places the concentration of oxygen at 6mg/L of ocean water so the Triton would have to go through about 6 litres of water for each breath and that, at the moment at least is a tall order.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2016) 'This scuba mask concept lets divers swim without tanks', 311 Institute, 10 December. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/this-scuba-mask-concept-lets-divers-swim-without-tanks/ (Accessed: 8 October 2026).
South Korean designer Jeabyun Yeon has unveiled his new concept of a scuba mask that would allow anyone to breathe underwater without requiring air tanks and his design, named Triton, uses two arms linked to a mouth piece to extract free oxygen atoms from the water and supply the diver with breathable air.
The masks arms are covered in small plastic scales that let water enter the mask via small holes where it's redirected to a chamber where a nanotech membrane separates the oxygen and other elements from the water to form breathable air - the same air that divers would traditionally get from their scuba tanks.
The gases are then compressed and stored in a miniature tank, ready for the diver to breathe. The entire gadget is powered by a small rechargeable battery and so far, while the design is just a concept, Yeon has high hopes that it will someday be turned into a commercial product that can completely replace an entire set of scuba gear.
That’s the theory. But I’m not sold on the Triton. Although as a diver myself I like the idea and there are a number of precedents that have demonstrated it's possible to use nanotechnology to separate gases from water - or, indeed, almost anything from anything, my biggest issue with it is that it would have to filter a lot of water to provide all the oxygen a human needs for a single breath.
The average human needs 500mls of air with every breath - going in, the air has a 21% oxygen concentration and a 16% concentration coming out, for a total of around 25mls of oxygen intake with every breath. Scientific literature places the concentration of oxygen at 6mg/L of ocean water so the Triton would have to go through about 6 litres of water for each breath and that, at the moment at least is a tall order.
That said though finding a way to exract oxygen out of seawater is a great idea, and if we can travel to Mars and create hypersonic submarines then surely we'll one day be able to crack this challenge. And even if we don't then perhaps one day we'll be able to use synthetic biology to give ourself gills. As with everything - it's a matter of having the money and the resources, after all, we arguably already have the technology...
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New nanomaterials that can filter and separate out a wide variety of chemicals, organic materials and particulates have many uses, from filtering pollutants from seawater to filtering bacteria from blood.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 10 December 2016. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2016). This scuba mask concept lets divers swim without tanks. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/this-scuba-mask-concept-lets-divers-swim-without-tanks/
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