What you see above does resemble one of those irritating, crying mandrakes in the Harry Potter movies, and don’t you think that it is rather weird that they are actually interactive plants which are capable of displaying emotions while communicating with humans? They are actually the brainchild of a research group over at Keio University, where the entire purpose of this creation is to develop living plants that seem more alive than current plants, while endowing them with a greater presence. In order to achieve this, actuators were attached to the plants in order to deliver a more physical aspect, and this will hopefully result in a greater degree of communication between plants and people. Pulling cords from a couple of stepping motors will move the plant, and in order to time the movements, a couple of attached sensors on the plants (a microphone and a motion sensor) will work in tandem. Right now, the researchers have successfully developed a wide range of movements which are capable of conveying the right emotions, where they will draw data from a repository of movement patterns. Interactive, emotional plants – as though we do not have enough emo humans around already.
Filed in ..