The so-called “Artificial Underwater Breathing Gill” scam – Triton – that we reported on back on 25 March has, as of (with no hint of irony) 1st April, come clean with its supporters and issued a statement on it’s crowdfunding campaign page saying that it wasn’t entirely truthful in the first instance and that instead of just filtering water for breathable air (which we, and others, proved was just not scientifically viable) the Triton will use tiny expendable “liquid oxygen” cylinders to supply air to breathe.
As part of the admission it has refunded all supporters who pledged money towards their campaign – which at the time of closing the original campaign was nearly $900,000.
We had hoped that would be the end of this madness.
Sadly it seems they haven’t given up on trying to continue the scam as they claim they have developed some “proprietary technology” to deliver compressed air and delivery system using “liquid oxygen” again without any real proof and have announced a relaunched campaign which at the time of writing has gained $250,000 in pledges!
Here are some excerpts from the campaign update:
“Since launching we have been protecting our proprietary technology because it’s so important to our success, but after careful consideration we think it’s important to share these details and clarify how the device works. Inside of each Triton, the artificial gills utilize ‘liquid oxygen’, which combined with the other components allow users to breathe underwater, which you can see in the video above. We will release more information about the ‘liquid oxygen’ cylinders and safety strap.”
“Note that the ‘liquid oxygen’ cylinders won’t last forever so we plan to make it possible for backers to purchase and exchange cylinders through our website. They will come in packs of 1, 3, and 5, and we’ll list prices as soon as they are finalized. We’re also working on a solution to make them refillable.”
You can read the full update here.
Amazingly they seem set on continuing this scam! We have to warn anyone even briefly considering this crowdfunding campaign that they need to consider very, very carefully putting a single dollar to this product – there is no actual proof the tiny “liquid oxygen cylinder” technology exists as they describe it, not to mention that so far they have misled people from the very beginning.
