Botanicalls

New York Times on Botanicalls, Again!

Rob Faludi — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:00:54 +0000

Another great article called Gadgets to Help Tend a Garden in The New York Times today. Roxie Hammill and Mike Hendricks review a variety of technology solutions for home gardening, including our own:

Botanicalls, a collaboration among artists and technologists, has designed a do-it-yourself kit with a sensor that goes into the dirt to measure moisture. When it gets too dry, the plant posts, “Water me please.” And it will send out a polite thank you when you respond.

“We didn’t want it to be like that person who only calls when he wants something,” said Robert Faludi, a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York and in the Interactive Telecommunications program at New York University. The kit is for sale at botanicalls.com/buy/ for $100.

The goal was to encourage a happy relationship between plants and people. “A lot of people are afraid of plants. They’re afraid whatever they do the plant is going to die. This makes it possible for them to have a plant in their lives where they might not otherwise,” Mr. Faludi said.

Read more about Gadgets to Help Tend a Garden.

Botanicalls in New York Times

Rob Faludi — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 00:21:31 +0000

Lovely Sunday New York Times article about Botanicalls and plants underlying native communication methods by Diane Ackerman. It includes what we believe to be the first published use in lower case of “botanicalling.” Maybe this signals our entry into the American lexicon?

MoMA Acquires Botanicalls for Permanent Collection

Rob Faludi — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:01:56 +0000

The Museum of Modern Art’s Architecture & Design Acquisition Committee has approved the addition of Botanicalls to the MoMA permanent collection. This means that after the Talk to Me exhibition closes, Botanicalls will join the likes of Eames chairs the BIC pen, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Starry Night. It’s a huge honor and we’d like to thank the acquisition committee, as well as the many collaborators who have helped Botanicalls along the way, a few of whom include: Gabe Barcia-Colombo, Andrew Schneider, Limor Fried, Phil Torrone, Nathan Seidle, Jim Lindblom, Tom Igoe, Red Burns, Dan O’Sullivan, Danny Rozin, Clay Shirky, Josh London, Eric Beug, Jimmy Garver, K Otterness, JooYoun Paek, Chris Paretti, John Frazier and many others.

Here’s some memories from along the way:

the original brainstorm-ing whiteboard

plants making phone calls

the first kit from Adafruit

the Botanicalls crew, Maker Faire 2007

Botanicalls on Smart Planet

admin — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:27:57 +0000

Botanicalls at MoMA

Rob Faludi — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:02:47 +0000

We’re green with anticipation! The Botanicalls project is featured in MoMA’s upcoming “Talk to Me” Exhibition, opening July 24th in New York on the third floor of the Museum of Modern Art. The show will continue through November 7th, 2011. Here’s the official description:

Talk to Me explores the communication between people and things. The exhibition focuses on objects that involve a direct interaction, such as interfaces, information systems, visualization design, and communication devices, and on projects that establish an emotional, sensual, or intellectual connection with their users. Examples range from a few iconic products of the late 1960s to several projects currently in development—including computer and machine interfaces, websites, video games, devices and tools, furniture and physical products, and extending to installations and whole environments.

Botanicalls is a system that allows thirsty plants to reach out for human help, originally created in 2006 at ITP in New York City. The project has traversed many intriguing incarnations and kits, including the current DIY kit from Sparkfun. There’s a lot of other terrific projects in this exhibit, so if you’re planning to be in New York City this year, pay a visit and check us out at MoMA!

Wired Magazine Declares Botanicalls “Awesome”

Rob Faludi — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:01:38 +0000

Botanicalls is first in the list of Wired Magazine’s “21 Awesome DIY Projects” this month! It’s part of a terriifc article that features our friend Limor Fried talking about making stuff. Thanks to Christina Bonnington for including the Botanicalls kits!

Botanicalls Kits Now Available from Sparkfun!

Rob Faludi — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:15:26 +0000

Botanicalls is back with a brand new leaf kit from SparkFun Electronics! Solder it together and you’ll have your plant tweeting in no time. This new kit even comes pre-programmed to connect to a Botanicalls Twitter test site so your plant can feel the joy right away. The only things you need to provide after the kit is built are a plant, a wired network connection and an electrical outlet. Full assembly instructions are online.

When you’re ready, you can customize Botanicalls to post to your own site and tweet your plant’s own personalized messages.

We’re delighted to be working with our friends at SparkFun and look forward to making this kit available via more online retailers soon. Ready to show your leafy buddy some love? Get started here.

Kits Update Coming Soon…

Rob Faludi — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 18:01:23 +0000

The Botanicalls team is putting the final touches on our latest kit, available in the next few weeks. This kit will be manufactured commercially, so we’ll be able to keep it more reliably in stock. It will also be fully compatible with the current version of Twitter, and come with brand new code and libraries. Our new Botanicalls program is be even easier to use, modify and hack. We welcome your genius!

We’ll be doing some renovations online to prepare for the new kit. Keep an eye here for news about availability, retailers and the official release date.

“Homegrown Terra-rists” Ignite Video

kati — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:40:49 +0000

The Ignite Show just posted episode 2, Kati’s Botanicalls Ignite NYC talk from back in September 2008 during Web 2.0 Expo. You may want to skip past the intro…and start at 1:33.

The Botanicalls system and applications use networked open source hardware and software to allow plants to communicate with people on people’s terms – using the telephone, text messages or twitter.

Recent Press

kati — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:11:19 +0000

Botanicalls was featured in the Winstom-Salem Journal‘s Living Section on February 26th and in the Home Section of the Baltimore Sun on January 27, 2009 and The Hong Kong Standard on February 17, 2009.