Oct 4Our main goals:1. Keep the plants alive. Although, we've decided that instead of providing automated watering systems, we want the plants to depend on humans. So, the plants might die. But that's okay. More than keeping individual plants alive, we want to keep the system and project alive. 2. Make a connection between people and plants. Enhance/create/visualize people's emotional connection to plants, the ways plants help humans, how caring for a shared resource can create sense of community, how natural life is a valuable counterpoint to our technical environment. Or maybe not a counterpoint - this isn't about nature vs. technology. They can (and should) be mutually beneficial. 3. Gather data, create documentation, record process. Components of the Project:A. Data Point person: Kati We would like to gather, visualize, and track data over time. Some of the hard data we could gather: soil moisture, nitrogen levels of soil, CO2, Oxygen levels, air pollutants, temperature, pH of soil, soil nutrients, light, proximity of people, proximity of other plants, age, tenure at ITP. Some of these would require a closed system - greenhouse. Some of the more subjective information we could gather: overall health of plant - height, new growth, bugs, flowering. Effect of electricity on plants? Bluetooth problematic. ZigBes can go to sleep, wakes up and sends data - low power. B. Plant-Human interaction, both physical and virtual. Point person: Kate Some plants will be able to phone people when they have a need, or have been asked by other plants. The lounge phone could ring, or people could develop personal relationships with plants and they could be called. The plants could try to convince people to bring in new plants. Each plant can express itself in unique ways. Only some can call people and ask for water, fertilizer, companionship, light. Some can change the music on the jukebox. Others might complain their space is too loud. Others might be a bit flirtatious with humans, demanding company and attention often (orchids). We would like the specific characteristics to relate to the scientific, botanical aspects of plants. Like succulants may be more stoic than other plants that tend to droop and need water more often. Self-defense mechanisms that have developed through evolution - like cactus - how can that translate into language and other communication. Spider plants and others that drop lots of babies. Natives vs. invasives. Invasives could choke eachother out - bindweed could aggressively attack other plants and block their attempts at communication, or asked to be moved to other pots to try to take over completely? How much of these interactions will depend on spatial proximity? C. Plant to Plant network and communication. Point person: Rob Plants will be networked. The system should be modular so people can easily bring in a new plant, find out how to put together it's component parts, and add it to the network. D. The Plants themselves, including the maintenance system. Point People: Kati and Rebecca What plants? Where do we get them? Do we go for all organic? Do we try some GM crops? Can we grow anything edible? Invasive and native? How much water, light, fertilizer will each need? If we don't have any automatic backup watering system, at what point will the plants need to express their need for food? Lots dependent on site. How can we work with on-floor composting projects? How do plants compete? Can we express competition and jealousy? Would there be a marked difference if certain plants are placed in close proximity? (See B: plants can behave in keeping with their biological characteristics and behaviors). We've decided to avoid anthropomorphizing the plants too much. Their names will relate to the common name of the plant type (Spider, Pothos, Rosemary, Rosemary II, etc.) Start some seeds. Ask NYU Gardener if they need any outdoor plants winters. E. Objects: Containers and Other physical Objects. Point People: Rob and Rebecca Also relates to F - visualization of data on the containers. Also, something that shows when information is being exchanged between plants? When a message is sent through the network, maybe a photo could be taken to have a record of what that plant looks like under stress. We may have wheels on the planters. Some plants may be in a closed system, in order to measure air changes. It would be great to have plexi on one side so you can see the roots. We may need to have a lighting system in place - fiber optics or solar-powered grow lights or mirrors on the building across the street. F. Visualizing data and documentation, instructions. Point person: Rebecca Displays on the containers that show data and history (not-too-garish LED displays? We'd rather something physical rather than screen-based). We could have an online component but we're more interested in immediate information. Also, Instructions for people who want to add more plants. How do we visualize and make the narrative over time clear? Wait wait - maybe we do need stuff on the plasma screen, at least at first - complex data, graphs. G. Physical site. Point person: Kate Lounge? Should they be movable? Will they call the lounge phone? Can we branch into other areas on the floor? If the sustainability class does the Smart Green Room, how might this project fit in? H. Overall narrative. Rob, Kate, Kati, Rebecca How do we express the cause-effect relationships? How might the project change over time? How do we track and show age of plants, memory? How and where do we start? What data will we want in 6 months that we need to track from the beginning, even if there are only 2 plants? User scenerio: A plant is sitting in the lounge. Its soil moisture drops below a certain level, causing a red light to display its need for water. After is doesn't get any for an hour, it contacts all the nearby plants, asking for help. One nearby plant is able to call the lounge phone and does so. Another plant, a competitive one, turns on a loud song on the lounge jukebox, hoping no one will hear the lounge phone ring. Which no one does. So the calling plant contacts another plant which has a human helper. That plant calls the human and asks them to water the first plant. The human is not on the floor, so they call someone who is and asks them to water the plant, which they do. The plant then plays a happy song on the jukebox as a thank you. Point PeopleWe've decided to have point people to make decisions on each aspect, but we'll all work on elements of each. Rob:
Kate:
Kati:
Rebecca:
Next Steps:1) Find and buy Lab Coats and patches (Rob is researching this) 2) More meetings! Finalize who will work on what, and where the crossovers will be. Come up with a schedule. Figure out first steps. Meet with Tom. |