Who’s calling? - it’s me, your houseplant!
Any hobby gardeners aboard? Recently, I came across a somehow weird website that promoted “communication between plants and people”. Plants (soundbite!) “that might otherwise be neglected are given the ability to call and text message people to request assistance”.
Plants that place phone calls for human help! No kidding!! Such well-connected networking plants will be all the rage in 2009.
Actually, on www.botanicalls.com one can even buy “Botanicalls Kits” that offer a connection to your windowsill buddy via online Twitter status updates to your mobile phone. Completely hands-off! Again quoting the Botanicalls people: “when your plant needs water, it will post to let you know, and send its thanks when you show it love.”
All you need is an ethernet connection with internet service, a 120V a/c power outlet (no idea whether they offer an alternative 220V power solution… - does anybody know?) and, of course, a neglected plant with soil at least 3″ (that is about 8 centimetres) deep.
A nice survey of such a kit with all its fiddly parts as resistors, transistors and LEDs (that have to be assembled before use!) is pictured here. Please note that you will also need several tricky tools for assembling, such as a soldering iron, needle-nosed pliers, a screwdriver and more.
Btw: the Botanicalls project was created by four New York based nerds (an artist, a neural science researcher, a computing expert and a game developer). I’m curious what they will launch next. A piddling-free puppy dog? A mobile with an included folding bicycle? A laptop computer that blogs without human assistance? I’ll keep watching.
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