Hello...It's Your Plants Calling
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07.19.07
We all know that we're supposed to talk to our plants (and maybe give them an occasional hug) to make them healthier, but now the plants are talking back. A company called Botanicalls have merged plant care with telecommunications, devising and constructing a way to bring container gardening to the 21st century: using their system, your plants will call you on the phone when they need to be watered, when they haven't gotten enough, and to thank you when they're no longer thirsty.
With a duo of goals -- keeping the plants alive by translating the communication protocols of the plants (leaf habit, color of foliage, droop, etc) to more common human communication protocols (email, voice phone calls, digital visualizations, etc) and making a connection between people and plants by exploring and visualizing people's emotional connection to plants and the ways plants help humans -- the project empowers communication between plants and people. Hey, the more plants around, the better, right? See the plants in action, making some calls at a video over at Reuters and see what's in store for Phase 2 after the jump.
The system currently involves a soil moisture sensor, hardware and software to interpret that data, and a call to a lounge phone; phase to will include a bunch of new features including a light sensor, display, ambient sensors, output to the web and email, as well as calls to your personal cell phone (not just the one connected to the plant). You'll even be able to call and check on the plants status.
There are currently 10 plants rigged up with the system; listen to the Scotch Moss tell its caretaker they've been slacking off, and to the Fiddleleaf Fig when it has had its fill of water. Watch the Botanicalls animation to learn more about the project, or visit their site to get all the details. ::Botanicalls via ::Reuters
this is all well and good, its about time. there is very interesting research concerning plants and communication, as well as reading the thoughts of people! some of the names involved in pioneering this research are cleve backster and marcel vogel. they actually hooked machines up to the plants though instead of putting meters in soil.
What's really interesting about Backster is this "Backster began his scientific career as an Interrogation Specialist with the CIA, and went on to become Chairman of the Research and Instrument Committee of the Academy for Scientific Interrogation."
Check out the WIkipedia entry on him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleve_Backster
It talks about the plant experiments that he conducted.
That's bootleg. The plants aren't involved. It uses soil moisture sensors, so they are kind of selling us on a technology that they don't have. The plants don't call, a stupid moisture sensor does. This could have been done in 1946.
Wow, this is actually interesting. i would never in a million years think that this would have been a possibility for plants.