Plants vs. Kylie
2017
Media:
Physical Computing Device
Role:
Animator, Developer
Client:
Personal Project
Plants vs Kylie is a program designed to notify me when my desk plants need water. Using soil moisture sensors, I created an avatar that notifies me if my plants are healthy or thirsty. If they are thirsty, IFTTT reminds me to water my plants by informing me of the moisture level via a notification on my phone.
Plants vs Kylie is a program to remind me when my desk plants are thirsty. Through physical computing, my plants remind me when they need water via an animated avatar on my desktop, as well as a notification on my phone. Using soil moisture sensors, I can evaluate if my plants are happy (less than 40 % dry) or thirsty (40% dry or more). Through the anthropomorphism of my plants, perhaps I will feel greater responsibility for the health and happiness of my fellow organisms. Created using soil moisture sensors, Arduino, Adobe Creative Suite, p5.js, Adafruit IO and IFTTT.
PROCESS
TESTING SENSORS
I used soil moisture sensors with Arduino to review the data received from various plants. These sensors measure the resistivity when current is sent through the soil. 0 means good conductivity (less resistance / wet soil), whereas 1023 means poor conductivity (more resistance / dry soil). I noticed that moving the sensor between plants generated poor results, so I purchased a sensor for each plant and kept it in the soil.