I am curious as to the effective density of a pit of balls relative to a human being. Would it be possible for a person to migrate vertically through a large well of them? If so:
Then build a house around a cylindrical ball tank. The house is rounded so that every room is connected to the tank. Stiff rubber flaps serve as interfaces between the tank and the rooms, keeping the balls in the tank, but allowing a human to push through. To go to another room, just swim down or up to wherever you want to go.-- Cuit_au_Four, Jul 15 2007 Conceptual Artwork http://img223.image...915/ballcaseti1.jpgIt is extremely conceptual, you may have to fill in blanks. [Cuit_au_Four, Jul 15 2007] Attic ala waugsqueke Quicksand_20Vortex [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 15 2007] Martin Creed: Half the Air In a Given Space http://martincreed....e/works/work-no-360Sort of conceptual art to walk through. Not balls, no vertical swimming. Still fun. From the artist who brought you "Lights Going On and Off". [jutta, Jul 15 2007, last modified Sep 17 2016] Related Idea? Aluminum_20Balls [normzone, Jul 15 2007] Ball room http://xkcd.com/c150.html [fridge duck, Jul 19 2007] (???) what jutta was pointing to http://www.gossmich...reed-at-the-nasher/balloon room [pashute, Dec 11 2012] https://en.wikipedi...Granular_convection [hippo, Sep 15 2016] So you would use these instead of stairs? That's cool.
"Say, has anyone seen grandma in the last couple of days?"
"She was going up balltank to get something to eat last I know..."-- NotTheSharpestSpoon, Jul 15 2007 I can't quite make up my mind about whether this would or wouldn't be possible - probably depends on the details, ball sizes, weight, squishiness, friction. For "swimming" techniques, look to the ways small animals burrow through sand? (PLEASE DO NOT EAT THE MARBLES.)-- jutta, Jul 15 2007 As per the second anno, I was certain this was related (link).-- normzone, Jul 15 2007 Disappointed - thought this was a testicle holder.-- nuclear hobo, Jul 16 2007 I love it just because I imagine moving furiture between floors being way too fun. Imagine pushing a mattress up a ball pit.
Would you be able to bring breakfest upstairs, specifically a crossiant? [+]-- evilpenguin, Jul 17 2007 It seems to me that gravity would work against you as the weight of all the balls on top of you work to hold you down. In addition, those beneath your feet would squish and roll, limiting both traction and movement.
If however, you made a fludizied bed in a former stairwell by continuously pumping air into it to the point where the balls behaved as a liquid, then this might actually work. But the balls would probably have to be close to equal in density to the human body, on the order of 60 lbs/cu.ft.-- nuclear hobo, Jul 17 2007 I suppose an upgraded implementation of this idea would to be to induce a gentle upward current by pumping balls in through the bottom, and have them spill out over the top and spiral down back to the pumping chamber. That might address the problem posed by nuclear hobo.
Or it might end up squishing you, I'm not sure.-- Cuit_au_Four, Jul 18 2007 You could have one tube with heavier balls to help you float on it, and one tube with lighter balls so you sink to the bottom.
Alternatively, you could take a large light object in with you to help you float.
For safety when going down, you have to make sure you don't fall too fast. What's the terminal velocity of a human body in a ball pit? It could probably be adjusted by changing the friction and density of the balls.
And also for safety, it may be nice to have some strong bands to wear around your chest to prevent the pressure from the balls crushing the air out of your lungs.-- caspian, Sep 15 2016 I think more depends on the relative particle sizes (person v. ball) rather than their relative density. Big particles, even if denser tend to end up on top - this "is sometimes described as the Brazil nut effect when the largest particles end up on the surface of a granular material containing a mixture of variously sized objects; this derives from the example of a typical container of mixed nuts, where the largest will be Brazil nuts. The phenomenon is also known as the muesli effect since it is seen in packets of breakfast cereal containing particles of different sizes but similar density, such as muesli mix." (see link)-- hippo, Sep 15 2016 With smooth and slippery equal sized balls I reckon there might be less muesli effect. I was thinking Teflon ball pit balls. I googled them, it seems you can buy them from China, but I can't find any reviews from people using them in a ball pit-- caspian, Sep 16 2016 If this is just a ruse to get Sturton to demonstrate his "walking on muesli" trick, it won't work. In any event, Alpen have a restraining order on him.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 16 2016 random, halfbakery