Communications of the ACM
Touch Your Philodendron and Control Your Computer: Technology Turns Any Plant Into an Interactive Device
Credit: Disney Research
Disney Research scientists have developed Botanicus Interactus, technology that enables houseplants to control a computer or other digital device.
Once a single wire is placed anywhere in the plant's soil, the technology can detect if and where a plant is touched. Botanicus Interactus is based on capacitive-touch sensing, the same principle underlying touchscreen technology. However, Disney's technology uses the Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing technique to monitor capacitive signals across a wide range of frequencies, which makes it possible to detect how and where the plant is being touched. Machine-learning algorithms are used to recognize frequency changes associated with touches in particular locations on the plant.
"Giving plants a voice, a possibility to respond and engage us, could lead to new forms of entertainment, enhance our lifestyles, and create a new computational platform that could be used for both education and entertainment," says Disney Research scientist Ivan Poupyrev.
The Disney researchers will demonstrate Botanicus Interactus at the SIGGRAPH 2012 conference.
From Disney Research
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Abstracts Copyright © 2012 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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