Air Bonsai: Levitating Magnetic Bonsai Trees

A small company called Hoshinchu based out of Kyushu, Japan, recently set out to fix the problem that evolution forgot by inventing the Air Bonsai, a system for magnetically levitating small bonsai trees several inches above a small electrified pedestal. The system allows you to create your own miniature Avatar-like worlds with tiny trees or shrubs planted in balls of moss, but is also powerful enough to suspend special ceramic dishes of fragments of lava rock.

The Air Bonsai consists of 2 main components, the “energy base,” made from Japanese ceramic, and the levitating “little star.”  Both come with built-in magnets that enable the levitation. The base also comes with an AC adapter and needs to be plugged in.

The Air Bonsai kits plan to be shipped in August, with the Kickstarter project ending on 1 March 2016. 

But note that the basic set is a DIY set and requires you to use your own plant. The workshop is offering various pre-made bonsai at higher pledge levels ($500 – $1,000) but, due to strict import restrictions, the plants will be procured locally and will likely differ from what’s pictured.

The Air Bonsai crowdfunder offers backers a bonsai-style miniature plant — which they call ‘little stars’ — that hovers two centimetres above a six centimeter magnetic base. The base, say the team, is “powered by an in-built magnet, has a rotating mechanism, and runs on an AC adapter”.

Based in Japan, the workshop says it will provide backers with an “energy base”, an adapter and a circular moss ball in which the plant sits. Import issues mean that backers in the US won’t receive trees from the Japanese garden, but will instead get locally-sourced pine trees. The design of the product means that backers can insert any plant — but, because they’re real, they’ll require water and care just like any other living thing.

At writing, the project has already raised $137,584 (£96,000), well past its $80,000 goal. Packs start at $200 (£140), but if you’re feeling particularly flush, you can pay $10,000 (£7,000) for a personalized tour around the garden and workshop behind the project — as well as a handmade cushion, base and star.