Touch-Plant Interface Developed

Category: Science & Technology
Posted: August 9, 2012 06:24AM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

What sounds more like something out of a Disney film has actually been developed by Disney Research: Botanicus Interactus. This is a touch interface for a computer, like a touchscreen, but instead of pressing your fingers against a piece of glass, you instead place them on a plant, real or artificial.

To make the plant touch-sensitive, the researchers used a single electrode in its soil and Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing (SFCS). This technology differs from that in modern touchscreens as it monitors multiple frequencies, as opposed to just one. This allows it to detect where and how the plant is being touched, as opposed to just if it is being touched or not.

Potentially this technology could be used to integrate plants into some kind of entertainment system that is triggered by touching the plant. Really it is just ones imagination that would limit this technology.