D265/P25: A case for selling bottled air
I vaguely remember a time when drinking water was not commonly sold in plastic bottles.
We had a water bottle then. I don’t remember whether it was always taken along while going out. However, I do distinctly remember us carrying it once when we were traveling to another town to visit our aunt.
The water bottle had red and white vertical stripes and a white lid that doubled as a cup. It had a white plastic strap that connected to a rather intricate harness via rivets.
I remember being taught early on that offering water to the thirsty was one of the most fundamental acts of decency and it probably had precedence over the “do not talk to strangers” rule as well.
So, as far as drinking water was concerned, there was no reason why anyone would sell or buy bottled water then.
Things however changed over time and now it is difficult to imagine a world without bottled water.
Of course, we have almost come full circle now and slowly, some places are looking at doing away with bottled water again.
While bottled water may have come full circle, the time is ripe to start selling bottled air.
It is not just good safe drinking water that is at a premium any longer. Most of our cities are struggling to provide clean air too. Most cities are having a tough time maintaining clean air as the Air Quality Index shows.
A world that finds it acceptable to buy drinking water should not have too many issues adapting to buying breathing air from bottles too.
Technically, I don’t see this as being a very tough problem. One could easily adapt conventional air-conditioners to have an optional interface towards an air cylinder.
The user could easily adjust the percentages for recycled air, fresh air and bottled air.
An option could be incorporated into cars as well. One could switch to bottled air when stuck in traffic jams for example.
Selling it should be fairly easy.
Why should one use bottled air?
Pretty much the same as why we use bottled water.
Because they can. Because it is cleaner. Because it is fresher.
Because it follows logically that you can never be too careful about the quality of the water you drink or the air you breathe.
You need not use it all day — only at night while sleeping — along with the air filter. Or perhaps, when you are doing your yoga practice/meditation. Clean air would definitely help then.
More exotic use cases could include getting bottled air from a specific place — I know I’d probably falter if someone offered me bottled air from Shillong with the scent of pines.
Perhaps many would opt for air from the Himalayas while meditating:
Breathe the same air as the Yogis of yore as you search for inner peace and balance.
HimaRasa — bottled in the Himalayas. Air compressed from among the lofty deodars. In a bottling plant, nestled among the folds of the Shivaliks. To helps you reach for those personal heights as you inhale the same air breathed by the Rishis.
*Filtered to remove pollen and other allergens. Free of all airborne bacteria and viruses.
Welcome to good health.
Eventually, we may have portable units that allow users to breathe bottled air when they are walking. Most back-packs already have a pouches on the sides for bottled water. The user could have a bottle of water on one side and a bottle of air on the other — attached to some sort of breathing apparatus.
The breathing apparatus could have built in hands-free for the phone as well as VR glasses perhaps (this is taking it too far probably but quite possible). Think of it as a light weight scuba gear to use as you walk around.
That leads us to another very interesting use case — the use of bottled air in movie theaters to add another dimension to the movie.
We already have 3D to enhance the visual experience and stereo sound to enhance the sound effects. What if you could add smells to the movies?
Imagine, as the actor runs through a crowded market, along with the sights and sounds, you can smell the street side vendors and the fresh cooking. As he enters an elegant room and sips on the wine, you can smell the wine too.
It would take multiple bottles of air/scent attached to the air conditioning unit. The unit would need to be efficient in order to spread the smell throughout the theater evenly, fast. There would perhaps have to be some mechanism to quickly draw out the previous smell/air before introducing the new smell too.
Perhaps it would be easier to provide each viewer with a gas-mask attached to the 3D glasses to make this work!
So, how about a bottle of air?
