These would be balloons that have neodymium magnets embedded in their surfaces to optimize geometric configuration.
This would allow you to configure balloons in geometries similar to the ones possible with the magnetic ball toys.
(links)-- JesusHChrist, Mar 22 2014 Magnetic Ball Toy geometries https://www.google....c+ball+toy&tbm=isch [JesusHChrist, Mar 22 2014] Cubic soap bubble http://www.youtube....watch?v=nfWVNX3QjOM [EnochLives, Mar 22 2014] Baloon Arch http://www.balloons...es/red_blu_arch.jpg [JesusHChrist, Mar 22 2014] Why not just slip a loose magnet or three into a balloon prior to inflation? Positioning could be easily accomplished via another magnet sliding along the outside of the balloon.-- Alterother, Mar 22 2014 Will this allow you to make polyhedral balloons in the same way that you can with soap bubbles?-- EnochLives, Mar 22 2014 On second thought, this would work better with balloons small enough to contain one bar magnet cushioned from the surface of the balloon.-- JesusHChrist, Mar 23 2014 Thin strips of iron on the outside?-- not_morrison_rm, Mar 23 2014 I need a better pair of lungs.-- wjt, Mar 23 2014 Try slipping a few neodymium magnets into your current pair. Apparently they make everything better.-- Alterother, Mar 23 2014 Why not just charge them from suitable poles of a Van de Graaff generator?
By alternating charges, you could stick and repel as desired.-- csea, Mar 23 2014 >>'fill'
The idea was to put just a few really light but strong magnets on the outside of the balloons so that you could snap them together in lego-like configurations. I was thinking that if you put 6 little dot magnets on each balloon, you could array them together as if it was a cubic face-centered lattice. Not totally sure that would work, although it works in crystals so there must be some strategy for doing that. Then I thought that if you tried to arrange, say, pentagonal strucures, like you can with the "nibblydibblium" magnets, it wouldn't work, because the magnets are on the outside of the balloons and not more centered inside the balloon, like presumably with the desk dots. I dont know, one would have to play around with it to see if it would work.-- JesusHChrist, Mar 24 2014 Being sufficiently supplied with both balloons and nibblydibblium, I'm going to try this, once I tear apart the motor sitting at my desk.
Alter, I'm not sure you'd be able to easily separate them and keep them on opposite sides of the balloon once you inserted them.-- RayfordSteele, Mar 24 2014 They come shipped separated by thick sheets of acetate of oaktag so that they cling weakly together but can easily be pried apart. Carefully inserted into the balloon so arranged, and perhaps helped by some post-it adhesive, I believe that the individual magnets could then be separated and sorted via external manipulation using a pair of stronger magnets and a partitioned tray or placeholder slugs made of (ferrous) steel.-- Alterother, Mar 25 2014 This may not be relevant, but if you place a drawing pin inside a balloon, inflate it, then shake it vigorously, static will cause the pin to float in the centre of the balloon.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 25 2014 random, halfbakery