From his backyard in Palo Alto, Calif., Chris Robinson is building a tsunami-proof capsule out of epoxy and plywood that he hopes will be strong enough to survive a tsunami and save the lives of those inside it.

He's a user experience designer by trade and looks at everything as a challenge. "What could you do that you could just climb into in your backyard," Chris asked himself, "instead of climbing in your car and being chased by a wave?"

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Fukushima, Japan, had a profound impact on him. Chris lived in Japan after college and taught English in Fukushima for a year. He met his wife there; many of the places that were destroyed by the tsunami were places he and his wife frequented when they were dating.

"The idea that tsunamis happen and have that destructive force and there really wasn't, at that time, any kind of viable plan to survive it other than just get to high ground," bothered Chris and was the challenge that lead him to build the capsule.

This isn't a prototype that he hopes he can mass produce and sell to every family living in low lying coastal areas on the Pacific rim. When he finishes it, sometime in 2014, there's no guarantee it will work if it ever even ends up in the path of a tsunami.

Until then, he'll continue building the capsule which he uses on the weekend for camping with his two sons.