BY CNET Blogs

Ever want to send an underwater text message? Laugh if you will, but on your next scuba-diving vacation you'll wish you had one of these gadgets if your air tank runs unexpectedly low.

In fact, this "Underwater Digital Interface" from Underwater Technologies Center can reportedly keep up to 56 divers networked with ships or land bases up to 1,000 yards away. And fortunately for them, the designers kept the product's functions simple--because the last thing you'd need in this situation is a complicated keyboard.

We wouldn't want to take a chance on a finicky touch screen, for instance, or lug around a full LCD.

The aquarian communicator is touted as "the world's first digital devices for undersea texting and SOS emergency communications," according to Dvice. We often scoff at "world's first" claims, but this is one category that presumably isn't overflowing with competitors, literally and figuratively.

It’s convenient that the dangers to self and potential hazards to the environment balance each other. It is a great experience when done properly, and I encourage everyone (especially students) to try it.

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