Final Project Idea

Adventure Planter Christine McGahhey • Phys. Comp. Proj. • 10.19.2016

Plants keep you healthy and happy

● Some people are afraid of having house plants because they don’t want to kill them. But this worry is keeping you from all of the benefits plants provide!

● Having plants in your home decreases chances of depression, allergies, getting sick and gives you better air quality. They also can keep you company and brighten up any room that you live in.

Don’t use the internet and basic “How-To” guides alonePeople try to learn how to care for plants by reading or looking for help online after it’s already too late. While people make jokes about it constantly, there is a desire to know how to do it properly.

Don’t be afraid of caring for plants any longer, and don’t find it boring or think of it as a chore, but as a fun daily part of life and a connection that you get to have with nature in the digital age.

Combining Plants and Technology

● Add sensors to a special pot for a plant to go in, to monitor its health and let you know when it needs your help

● Creates a virtual version of your plant on your device to play with

● Connect certain buttons in the software (app) to basic functions needed for plant care (watering, nutrition, sunlight, etc.)

● Connect the pot and the mobile device together using wifi

The Technology Exists already, but can be used in new ways

Smart pots, gardening guides, and digital plant games are already on the market but are not being utilized together. These also encourage the pot to do all the work for you, so people don’t actually learn how to care for them themselves and only let technology do the work, or the plant is digital and users may feel no strong connection to them.

Water spout connected to a tank below the pot

Speaker and small light that reacts to the games played on the phone

Sensor for moisture and temperature

Shows health bar (from sensor) and games around the digital version of your plant

Tapping functions on the screen sends a signal to the spout, light, and speaker to react.

2 Parts: Pot (Hardware) and Mobile Device (software)

Adventure Planter is a technically augmented planter that teaches the user how to care for the plant

● A smart pot connects to your phone to monitor and make plant care easier for you

● Play games with your plant and learn about it, monitor how it’s doing accurately, and don’t let your plants die ever again

● Always know when your plant is in trouble and needs some TLC and learn how to care for it on your own

Each plant comes with its own games that you can

play to care for the plant, and you can see it’s

“health bar” at anytime as well.

Timeline Draft October and first week of November - Prototyping (Sensors, signals, and AR tagging)

November - Fabrication (Pot, putting it all together, simple images for the buttons and game)

December - Finish fabrication and present final (Tweak any last issues and be ready to present by the 8th)