If your attempts to own and care for a pet fish have resulted in a non-stop procession of toilet-side funerals, this new aquarium from Takara Tomy should help boost your success rate. It’s filled with colourful virtual fish you draw and colour yourself that will only die if your smartphone does.
The aquarium — or Picturerium, in this case — is just over six-inches wide, and that’s not only so it’s small enough to fit on any desk. It’s actually brought to life by placing an iPhone 5 or 6 on top, face down, and running a free accompanying app. Inside the tank you’ll find a fake aquarium backdrop, but also an angled two-way mirror that reflects the images of swimming animated fish generated by the iPhone app. The final effect makes it look like they’re all swimming around in 3D.
The Picturerium also includes a set of special blank cards that let you draw and colour your own fish. To load them into the tank, all you need to do is place them above the iPhone 6’s camera, and the accompanying app will snap a photo and automatically import and bring them to life.
You can even draw and import whatever food you think your underwater pets will enjoy, they don’t only have to subsist on a steady diet of brown flakes. Available later this week you’ll be able to buy the Picturerium for around $US14 if you live in Japan. But if you live outside the country, import sites like the Japan Trend Shop will be happy to sell you one for closer to $US36, which is still cheaper than buying new goldfish every week. [Japan Trend Shop]