Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction

This paper explores if plants are capable of responding to human movement by changes in their electrical signals. Toward that goal, we conducted a series of experiments, where humans over a period of 6 months were performing different types of eurythmic gestures in the proximity of garden plants, na...

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Main Authors: Gil, Alvaro Francisco, Weinbeer, Moritz, Gloor, Peter A.
Format: Article
Published: MDPI AG 2024
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155074
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author Gil, Alvaro Francisco
Weinbeer, Moritz
Gloor, Peter A.
author_facet Gil, Alvaro Francisco
Weinbeer, Moritz
Gloor, Peter A.
author_sort Gil, Alvaro Francisco
collection MIT
description This paper explores if plants are capable of responding to human movement by changes in their electrical signals. Toward that goal, we conducted a series of experiments, where humans over a period of 6 months were performing different types of eurythmic gestures in the proximity of garden plants, namely salad, basil, and tomatoes. To measure plant perception, we used the plant SpikerBox, which is a device that measures changes in the voltage differentials of plants between roots and leaves. Using machine learning, we found that the voltage differentials over time of the plant predict if (a) eurythmy has been performed, and (b) which kind of eurythmy gestures has been performed. We also find that the signals are different based on the species of the plant. In other words, the perception of a salad, tomato, or basil might differ just as perception of different species of animals differ. This opens new ways of studying plant ecosystems while also paving the way to use plants as biosensors for analyzing human movement.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1550742024-09-22T04:33:16Z Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction Gil, Alvaro Francisco Weinbeer, Moritz Gloor, Peter A. This paper explores if plants are capable of responding to human movement by changes in their electrical signals. Toward that goal, we conducted a series of experiments, where humans over a period of 6 months were performing different types of eurythmic gestures in the proximity of garden plants, namely salad, basil, and tomatoes. To measure plant perception, we used the plant SpikerBox, which is a device that measures changes in the voltage differentials of plants between roots and leaves. Using machine learning, we found that the voltage differentials over time of the plant predict if (a) eurythmy has been performed, and (b) which kind of eurythmy gestures has been performed. We also find that the signals are different based on the species of the plant. In other words, the perception of a salad, tomato, or basil might differ just as perception of different species of animals differ. This opens new ways of studying plant ecosystems while also paving the way to use plants as biosensors for analyzing human movement. 2024-05-24T19:26:53Z 2024-05-24T19:26:53Z 2024-05-12 2024-05-24T13:04:57Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2313-7673 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155074 Gil, A.F.; Weinbeer, M.; Gloor, P.A. Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction. Biomimetics 2024, 9, 290. PUBLISHER_CC 10.3390/biomimetics9050290 Biomimetics Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf MDPI AG Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
spellingShingle Gil, Alvaro Francisco
Weinbeer, Moritz
Gloor, Peter A.
Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title_full Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title_fullStr Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title_full_unstemmed Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title_short Can Plants Perceive Human Gestures? Using AI to Track Eurythmic Human–Plant Interaction
title_sort can plants perceive human gestures using ai to track eurythmic human plant interaction
url https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155074
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