This choker-type thing is actually the world’s smallest life jacket to save your life!

You want to swim underwater but you are strictly told to not take your life jacket off – what do you do? Merely float on the surface. So, how can you safely swim underwater? Thank Rainer Fakesch, T. Storti and C. Rummel for coming up with Ploota!

Wondering what it is? Well, it is the tiniest life-jacket you’ll ever see that allows you to go deep into the water without bringing you to the surface until necessary! All one has to do is place Ploota around his/her neck, just like a neck pillow, the device is smart enough to do the rest. It has a sensor inside which triggers when it comes into contact with water, if the automatic sensor fails, there is always a manual trigger as well! This life jacket is reusable, unique, compact and simply amazing.

 Image: Ploota

According to its inventors, Ploota is 1/50^th the size of a conventional foam-based life jacket, making it possible to carry 50 of these in place of a regular life jacket. It only weighs 280 grams which means that you won’t be pulled down by its weight nor will you have an issue carrying it around. Since it is super sleek, people (read: girls) won’t have an issue wearing it – the Ploota may even become a fashion statement.

 Image: Ploota

So, you are probably wondering by now how this tiny device can save your life. As soon as it is triggered, the two bags on the side (above the shoulder) inflate because of the refillable CO₂ cartridges in place, bringing the person to the surface of the water.  The use of refillable CO₂ cartridges makes Ploota reusable and foldable.

With the invention of Ploota, many lives can be saved in case of a calamity since it is portable, light and efficient! I might just go deep diving now, what about you?

Image: Ploota

Source: Ploota (via: Design Boom)