Truemors
It has been long believed that plants can talk, if only we could learn to understand them. Well, now plants can blog. They skipped right over the whole speech thing and went straight online to join the web 2.0 mania. Or at least one little plant in Japan has. Named Midori-san, or Green, the small 40 cm high sweetheart plant sits on a counter in a house just outside of Tokyo and blogs away with the help of a sensor that reads electronic signals which are then translated into words.
What does little Green say? Not surprisingly, like most of us, Green talks a lot about the weather and how the weather is affecting it. It gives us a little insight into what it means to be green.
"Midori-san," a 40 cm (16 inches) potted plant on a cafe counter in Kamakura, near Tokyo, blogs every day with the help of a sensor that measures electric signals and a computer algorithm that translates them into Japanese. The plant, a hoya kerrii, is commonly called a "sweetheart plant" because of it leaf shape.
"We were initially interested in what plants are feeling and what they are reacting to where we can't see," said Satoshi Kuribayashi, a researcher involved in the project at Japan's Keio University. The strength of electronic signals on the surface of Midori-san's heart-shaped green leaves, which react to light and human touch, are measured by a sensor attached to the plant, and this data is sent to a computer in the cafe.
The computer uses an algorithm to translate the signal data, as well as other factors -- including weather and temperature -- to translate them into words, which are automatically posted on Midori-san's blog (http://plant.bowls-cafe.jp/index.php)
"Today was a sunny day and I was able to sunbathe a lot... I had quite a bit of fun today," Midori-san, whose name means "green" in Japanese, posted on Oct 16.
The latest entry reads: "It was cloudy today. It was a cold day." Kuribayashi said he hopes that in the future, the blog will reflect even more accurately of Midori-san's feelings.
As the website is in Japanese, I was having a lot of fun with Google translator. Today for example little Green said “CO2, Mami SHIOTSU my nephew.” Yesterday mentioned something like “Do not say a foreigner MIZUKUSA.” And on Sunday was quite adamant that “Today, I had a sleepy and Akebia.” It even started asking questions: “Cucumber climate change?” No doubt climate change is indeed an important thing on little Green’s mind. I wonder if it has any suggestions. We should keep listening closely.
Comments (0)