Hey Helen, I think that both of these things are forms of playful engagement - I don't think it's a case of having to pick one over the other :) Perhaps the Thirsty Plant Detector can be a good way of helping people new to gardening to learn how often their plants need watering? If you've got a really busy schedule sometimes it's hard to remember a routine in plant care and from personal experience having one has helped me with this.
I know what you mean about the Botanicalls thing. There is a worry that something like this means that the technology might create a situation where there is no need for someone to have personal contact with their plants. I don't think I would like that very much either. However, I think the Botanicalls kit is kinda nice as it's allowing your plant to communicate with you even when you're not in the same room as it. In a way this brings you closer to it - you're anticipating getting back to it so you can feed it! :) Em On 25 June 2013 13:11, helen varley jamieson <[email protected]>wrote: > hi em, > thanks for your reply. introducing people to electronics & open source > hardware in fun & interesting ways is certainly a good thing, there are > many ways to do that & i'm sure that your workshop is an inspiring > introduction. but my idea of playful engagement with my plants involves > seeding, watering, watching, touching, repotting, pruning & eating them - > the whole thing of growing plants is for me a playful engagement. > > i find the botanicalls thing is even more disturbing than your detector - > if you're going to have a system like that then why not remove the > human-plant interaction completely & just have an automated watering system? > > h : ) > > > On 25/06/13 1:00 PM, Emilie Giles wrote: > > Hey guys :) > > Helen (Varley Jamieson) I think your point about it not being difficult > to tell when plants are thirsty is completely true - all you need to do is > see your plant drooping and feel that the soil is dry to know. I think > though that as Helen (Pritchard) says, the workshop gives you the chance to > engage with your plants in a playful way. Making something like this is a > great way to teach people electronics in a fun way as well - most people > who come to these workshops have never done anything like this before, or > if they have not since school. Being an evening workshop this is more for > adults but its been ran with kids too who absolutely love it so its a good > way to get kids into technology. > > Once people see that they can make a circuit it gives them the > confidence to think about other projects they'd like to build, especially > with Arduino (like in Soenke's link). > > I guess something like this would be the next step!: > > http://www.botanicalls.com/archived_kits/twitter/ > > Em > > Sent from my iPhone > > > -- > helen varley jamieson > [email protected] > http://www.creative-catalyst.com > http://www.wehaveasituation.net > http://www.upstage.org.nz > > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour > -- Emilie Giles Mob: +44 (0)7811 305647 Twitter: me_backwards <https://twitter.com/#%21/me_backwards>
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