Project Background

Can you be friends with plants you like? Do you really understand your plant? If you know what your plant needs, how do you know? Do you go online and search for information about plants?

Does the plant have a memory? It is quite clear that plants have the ability to remember. Plants are not the same as humans, but their ability to respond and express their emotions is obvious. They have inconspicuous expressions and to what extent can you learn them?

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What exactly happens when our brain stores information is still being intensively researched. One important mechanism for storing information permanently in the brain is the brain's ability to change the number and strength of the connections of the huge network of nerve cells in a short time.

Every day, millions of stimuli assail us, which are passed on to the brain by the sensory organs. In order for us to filter out important impressions, potential memory content passes through several stages of buffering before it is stored. It passes through the ultra-short-term memory and the short-term memory. Only when the information has been assessed as relevant is it passed on to the hippocampus for further processing. Here, a process then begins for the permanent storage of information in long-term memory.

Research

  • Memory books on plants.

  • A preliminary conceptual model of plant memory based on an interaction between genes. Immediately after the perception of a stimulus, the calcium wave has a built-in switch function that steers the plant towards the most appropriate response to that stimulus. In the direct pathway (2nd column), epigenetic modifications turn on or off (block or unblock) direct pathway genes (i.e. DIR genes). This changes the protein make-up of this pathway, which eventually leads to the final response of the plants. If learning memory is involved, the calcium wave directs the plant not only to the same DIR pathway as above (2nd column) but also to an associated LEARN pathway (1st column). Epigenetic modifications, in turn, turn on or off a group of genes (LERN genes), which changes the protein make-up in such a way that the intensity of the calcium wave is reduced (habituation) or increased (sensitization).

  • In the memory/recall form of memory, the unblocking of a group of genes (SP genes) once again occurs through epigenetic modifications, which, however, remain inactive in the absence of a suitable activator (information storage). If the unblocked SP genes are activated, this allows the synthesis of proteins, etc., which eventually leads to the final reaction (3rd pillar). Besides, various internal or external events, such as treatments, plant rhythms, etc., perhaps via processes of calcium condensation/decondensation (5th column), cause the activation of an unblocked gene (ABR gene), the product of which is precisely the activator required for the activation of the SP genes (4th column). Symbols: Genes on/off = unblocked/blocked genes; ABR.= retrieval; DIR = direct; LEAR = learning; SP = memory. (A vertical sequence of rectangles with the various terms and designations of processes in the figure are each referred to here as a "column" so that there are five columns from left to right.

  • Flowchart

  • Plants perceive stress

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Project brainstorming and research on plants

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MIDI , Arduino and Reaktor technology experimentation

  • Arduino as a MIDI device

  • MIDI control arduino

  • Arduino served as a controller for Reaktor

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I made a device about plants and sounds. When you touch a plant, the sound changes. This may indicate that it is nervous. Are we as humans anthropomorphizing plants? Whether it is from the perspective of plants to consider their feelings. This is an open question. The plant was connected to the Arduino to Reaktor and also to sensors that reflect a change in the plant: The listener becomes aware of this through sound.

Interaction Design

Project: Bachelor Arbeit

Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle

Focus: Product Design + Interaction Design

Skills: Arduino + MIDI Technology + 3D Printing

Time：04 - 07.2018

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