Today, Slashdot reported that a Japanese company has found a way to write characters on standing water. According to Engadget, it’s “difficult to coax a standing pool of water into forming recognizable shapes and characters.” Pink Tentacle tells us that the device is called, “Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin,” or AMOEBA for short (Japanese article at FujiSankei).

One Slashdot poster wondered what practical applications this device might have. For one, still water sits all over Japan. Such a device might generate advertisements in the sento (pubic bath), onsen (hot springs) or even a urinal (place where men pee while standing). Public ponds or swimming pools could be transformed into wonderfully offensive floating advertisements.

And with the spread of Google Earth and the viewership of satellite imagery in general, wouldn’t creating advertisements within bodies of water seem like a good idea right now? Imagine if you could take out ad space in Lake Michigan near Chicago or inside of Tokyo Bay. How much might such ad space be worth? How many millions of people might see such a promotion on Google Earth? What if they could click through that ad and get to your website?

What other practical purposes do you see?