Tamagotchi creator Bandai has introduced the Bandai Aqua Dance, a fountain that cascades over a nanotech surface.

"The water droplets roll into balls acting more like mercury, and swarm across the plastic surface in a self-perpetuating cascade," writes DVICE's Jim Hill. "It's like a mini science lesson. The result: a dull plastic water fountain becomes a hypnotic Japanese toy."

"With the Adesso WR coating developed by Nikka Kagaku Co. Ltd., water beads up and behaves more like mercury than H2O," writes CScout Japan's Michael Keferl. "Aqua Dance uses this technology to put a new spin on the old 'home mini-fountain' idea by constantly feeding new water in through the top to watch it slide, bounce off of obstacles, drop into holes, and break into tiny little pieces as it makes its way down the tray."

"Currently not available for sale in the US, and most likely never will be," notes CrunchGear's Dave Freeman. "But it's always interesting to see what toy makers do with technology…"

More here from Gizmodo … more here from Crave … and more here from Ubergizmo.

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