Botanicus Interacticus

Abstract

Botanicus Interacticus is a technology for designing highly expressive interactive plants, both living and artificial. We are motivated by the rapid fusion of computing and our dwelling spaces, as well as the increasingly tactile and gestural nature of our interactions with digital devices. Today, however, this interaction happens either on the touch screens of tablet computers and smart phones, or in free air, captured by camera-based devices, such as the Kinect. What if, instead of this limited range of devices, a broad variety of objects in living, social and working spaces become aware and responsive to human presence, touch and gesture?