It is predicted that by 2050, nearly 70% of the world's population will live in urban areas.* Thus, we can easily imagine a dystopia where there will be a constant struggle for resources, overpopulation, growth of urban sprawl and the concrete jungle overtaking the natural ones.
Another problem is that the electrical energy we consume today is still heavily dependent on non-renewable sources of electricity.
Imagine that instead of switching on a lamp when it gets dark, you could read by the light of a glowing plant on your desk. A team of scientists at MIT has found a way to give plants the ability to produce light. Current research is progressing along these lines to make bioluminescent and non-electric lighting possible. This could potentially lend a whole new meaning to the term “green energy.”
Though the research is preliminary, the researchers believe that bioluminescent plants may someday light our streets, parks, and even our homes. MIT engineers have taken a critical first step toward making that vision a reality. By embedding specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of a watercress plant, they induced the plants to give off dim light for nearly four hours. They believe that, with further optimization, such plants will one day be bright enough to illuminate a workspace.
(See References below)
This project is an attempt to simulate the revolutionary technology of non-electric bioluminescent plants that can be connected, controlled, responsive and alive, acting as the harbinger of change into a more enchanted, energy-optimised and brighter future (pun-intended)! Though it currently uses an electric circuit to simulate the future experience of bioluminescent plants and even trees, this step is crucial in triggering the imagination and sharing the vision of this research.
Looking for inspiration along the lines of glowing plants, I came across the above article where I found a project led by MIT engineers who by embedding specialized nanoparticles into the leaves of a watercress plant, induced the plants to give off dim light for nearly four hours. They believe that, with further optimization, such plants will one day be bright enough to illuminate a workspace. This technology is currently progressing as a crowd-funded kickstarter project.
If trees form an element of our urban spaces in the future that can be responsive to our interactions with them, glow and provide light, respond and connect with other trees, plants and humans through the internet, it would indeed create an amazing experience to be in natural urban environments, being under the trees at night time!
From this point, I imagined an interconnected network of plants and trees that communicate with humans in natural, subtle and elegant ways. The idea is to simulate the experience of interacting with bioluminescent plants as a supplement to the ongoing research. I also wanted to incorporate a sense of live connection, taking inspiration from the movie Avatar. The way the plant acts as a source of light for us could be ambient and yet the control of that ambience would also be an important component of the design
| Amount | Part Type | Properties |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Particle Argon | variant variant 3 |
| 1 | Basic Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) | package THT; sensing area diameter .5 " |
| 1 | Blue smd LED | package 1206 [SMD]; color Green (565nm) |
| 1 | Blue LED - 5mm | package 5 mm [THT]; leg yes; color Blue (430nm) |
| 1 | FC-28 Soil Hygrometer Module | chip LM393; variant variant 3 |
| 1 | FC-28 Soil Hygrometer Module - Probe | variant variant 1 |
| 2 | 1k Ω Resistor | package 0603 [SMD]; tolerance ±5%; resistance 1kΩ |
| 1 | PHOTOCELL | package photocell; variant pth |
| 1 | 1k Ω Resistor | package THT; tolerance ±5%; bands 4; resistance 1kΩ; pin spacing 400 mil |
| 1 | 10k Ω Resistor | package THT; tolerance ±5%; bands 4; resistance 10kΩ; pin spacing 400 mil |
To take this project further, the next steps would involve developing interconnected networks of plants that can
The most important and challenging aspect of this project, which is currently only a simulation, would be to integrate the embedded nanoparticles that make the bioluminescence possible connect to the internet the same way as an LED (or further exploration and research would be required to make this technology a reality).
Looking back, this project has taught me that implementing an idea from it's conception to the first prototype is a struggle that is worth undergoing. As a beginner to coding, I took a lot of time to understand how I could code and what activities, outputs and responses I could get to manifest my thinking. I also realise that throughout the process, my focus was more on simulating the experience and feel of the intended idea than including more complex methods of interactions with the plant. Demonstrating the purpose of the research and making the idea happen as the first experiential prototype was important to me.
While application of my learnings from class was an important hands-on step to improve what I had absorbed during skills development classes, taking the liberty to experiment, try different methods to communicate the idea, fail, re-try and fail again was excruciating. However, the final manifestation the circuit and code to documenting the process was great experience to finally make my imagination come to life. I believe there's a lot more to do from this point on and I'm excited to work on this idea further to explore more possibilities!
https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/glow-dark-plants-put-green-energy-whole-new-light-ncna830791
http://news.mit.edu/2017/engineers-create-nanobionic-plants-that-glow-1213
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