Category
Prototype of the Plantlife
Brief
During EDI Bootcamp I was given the theme of Kintsugi to design for in a short half-week project with found objects and a basic electronics kit. I wanted to tie my love of plants with Kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery.
My inspiration for this project came from the many many plant mishaps that I’ve had. Both those which were my fault and those which were not.
An under-watered plant
MacGyvered plant humidity chamber
My key goal for this prototype:
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How might I create a product that allows us to create better watering habits for our plants, create a meaningful interaction with that plant, and gives an indication of plant health?
User Requirements
- The design gives the user a glanceable indication of plant health
- The device uses data to calculate plant health
- The design serves as a container to hold the plant
- The design encourages greater empathy and connection with our plants
Electronics
GIFs
The gif above shows the capacitive moisture sensor reacting to being in 100% moisture (water) and 0% moisture (air).
The gif to the right shows the shake to wake behavior enabled by the IMU.
Soil Moisture Modes
Optimal Soil Moisture is dependent on the type of substrate. For soil it is 10-45% based on the saturation point and wilting point.
Happy Plant
Soil Moisture 20-45%
Green, smiling face
Meh Plant
Soil Moisture 10-20%
Orange, ok face
Grumpy Plant
Soil Moisture 0-10%
Red, unhappy face
Reflection
Learned to think more intentionally about human-product interactions, from characterizing the plant with human emotions such as happy, ok and grumpy, to allowing modes to be expressed both with color and faces to ensure the message was universal.
