When I was off at ETel 2007 last week, one of my plants didn't get enough water and was clearly distressed by the time I returned. But that's because I didn't have the Botanicalls system available.
Botanicalls is project of the Interactive Telecommunications Project; Kati London and Kate Hartman staffed the demonstration and presented the project as one of ETel's "Lightning Talks."
In the Botanicalls project, a sensor determines if a plant is receiving enough water; if it receives too little (or too much), the sensor dials a number to report the problem. And because this project is about art as much as it is about technology, each plant has a unique "voice" based on its botanical characteristics. You can even dial a main number to interact with the plants — well, I wrote that, but I actually mean the computer that controls the project, not the plants themselves — to learn about the plants' "personalities."
I like this project because it illustrates an important point: Internet-based telephony doesn't require an actual telephone; in other words, the old link between "telephone call" and "telephone instrument" is now broken, a revolutionary development. I've said before that it's now possible to have your washing machine send you text messages ("wash done") or receive phone calls from your refrigerator ("It's too warm in here!"). This plant project blends art and technology to illustrate the same idea in a way that's fun, informative, and intriguing.
Topics: · creativity · telecommunications
Link to this story · Comment form · Blog Home
Moshe Yudkowsky wrote at 2007-03-07 04:35:
Thanks, good to be back. I've had some really, really busy days and a lot of travel in between, but I can now return to my regular schedule.
Comments are closed for this story.
Trackbacks are closed for this story.
Yacov F. wrote at 2007-03-06 22:26: