How does the Namib Desert beetle survive in the middle of the unforgiving dry land it's named for? Simple: it pulls water out of thin air.

The beetle's ability to draw moisture from the air has inspired a company to try the same thing with a water bottle.

NBD Nano is studying the Namib beetle, which has a natural ability to get water to condense on its back. It then stores that water for future use.

They're hoping the same principle would work for a bottle covered with hydrophilic (water-attracting) and hydrophobic (water-repellent) materials. So far, they say they've developed "a proof of concept," and are on their way to a fully functional prototype.

And if they're successful, the bottle would be capable of grabbing a fair amount of water out of the air.

"We think our initial prototype will collect anywhere from half a litre of water to three litres per hour, depending on local environments," Miguel Galvez, co-founder of NBD Nano, told the BBC.

The bottle will include a fan that gets the surrounding air to pass over the surface of the bottle. The air would then condense and get stored inside.

There's a lot of demand for water around the world - about three billion people on Earth (almost one in two) live in water-scarce conditions, according to the World Health Organization.

"Dry places like the Atacama Desert or Gobi Desert don't have access to a lot of sources of water," Galvez says.

"So if we're creating [several] litres per day in a cost-effective manner, you can get this to a community of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and other dry regions of the world. And if you can do it cheaply enough, then you can really create an impact on the local environment."

Even if the technology can be produced effectively, though, Erik Harvey from the WaterAid charity says it won't be enough to satisfy an entire community.

"Even in water-scarce areas, communities need more water than what they would consume for themselves - livestock and agriculture in arid environments are very important," he told the BBC.

Harvey sees the market for the self-filling bottle as "the military or the outdoors market, people going camping."

At this point, according to their website, NBD Nano is "in a heavy R&D phase," working on the design and construction of the bottle. They are aiming to launch sometime in 2014-2015.

Related:

Scientists Say Water Shortages Could Force World To Go Vegetarian

INFOGRAPHIC: Why and How to Stop Wasting Water

This Solar-Powered Water Treatment Plant In India Is Run By High School Students