MIT researchers engineer “cyborg” plants for motion-tracking and sending notifications

via DeZeen

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s “cyborg botany” researchers have turned plants into sensors and displays, suggesting we use them as a gentle alternative to electronic screens.

Harpreet Sareen and Pattie Maes from the MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces Group have been researching how to merge plants and artificial electronics to create new interfaces.

“Plants are normally thought of as passive creatures in the environment,” said Sareen. “Contrary to this, they can not only sense what’s happening around them, but respond and display naturally.”

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