[Nick] is working on a prototype of a coffee table sand plotter that draws patterns in sand a lot like a zen rock garden. [Nick]’s zen rock garden uses a magnet to draw a ball bearing across ...

The purpose of a Zen garden, those stylized landscapes created ... stately movement of the ball through the sand. The patterns are remarkably intricate, and while it might not be the same as ...

the sand a tranquil sea. In 2002, a research team at Kyoto University claimed to have cracked the Zen code. Relying on computer models, they found that the garden's rocks—when viewed from the ...