Water Leisure Fashion Belt

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: design concept 2007

design:
Yoon Sang-Min	Oh Sung-Il
Ku Ja-Yun	Shin Kwan-Woo

This life-saving floatation device is based on consideration of people's patterns of movement when they are drowning and panicked, but it also allows for ease of movement during leisure activities.

Water Leisure Fashion Belt is designed to do the job of a regular life jacket, but in a more compressed fashion. Once the device is activated, the belts/straps worn on the victim's shoulders expand, forming tubes. These tubes allow the victim to maneuver in the water without much discomfort. Furthermore, the device broadcasts an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Device) signal to indicate the location of the victim to a rescue team.

Increasingly more people enjoy ocean sports these days, and the accident rate remains high. A lack of life jackets contributes to the high rate. Furthermore, people usually do not like to wear life vests (even though they have access to them on boats) because they are big and uncomfortable. Therefore, the Water Leisure Fashion Belt uses compressed gas to create buoyancy, rather than a large volume of air. This allows the life vest to be compact and light. Also, wearing a vest like a belt or strap assists ease of movement during recreational activities.

Currently, in the case of an accident, rescuers are often assisted by infrared light equipment at night. Without the equipment, there is no way to search. However, as this product adopts the RFID system; it increases the possible search distance no matter the light conditions.