2010
Quick Contest : Flash and Arduino
August 4, 2010 - via Mike Chambers Blog Post
Physical computing is awesome. Especially when you bridge the gap between traditional and physical computing. It just seems natural to extend what a user would normally gain from a computer screen to something physical that can produce tangible, emotional connections with the real world.
Mike Chambers Flash and Arduino Quick Contest got me thinking of an interesting concept that could possibly be worth experimenting with. This idea, which I’m tentatively code naming as the “Adobe Flash Garden” would break the norm of traditional data visualization.
Adobe Flash Garden
The Goal:
Extend traditional data visualization: pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs, etc. towards visualization mechanisms in the real world.
The Idea:
Two types of visitors would visit the Adobe Flash Garden Online Experience:
- Users running an internet enabled desktop or mobile with Adobe Flash Player installed
- Users running an iDevice without support for Adobe Flash Player
As one of the two above users visits the Adobe Flash Garden Online Experience, it is determined whether or not the user has Adobe Flash Player installed. This data is then sent to a server, which is physically located at a real “garden” with soil and seeds ready to be nourished. This server which connected to a microcontroller (in this case the Arduino) then “feeds” and “nourishes” the appropriate plant(s) in the Adobe Flash Garden.
Plant A: Flash Player Visitors
Plant B: Non-Flash Player Visitors
(Above: Adobe Flash Garden Diagram, click to enlarge)
“Nourishing” mechanisms connected to the Arduino via relays and actuators would consist of:
- Irrigation system: H2O
- Nutrient Solution Supplement
- Artificial Sunlight: lamps mounted above garden
- Speakers: for soothing music or motivational encouragement, “you can do it!”
(Above: Adobe Flash Garden Video Feed of the Seed View, click to enlarge)
The online experience would consist of a live video feed of the garden to allow visitors to monitor and view the “live” data visualization. Along with video, data and status of each plant is sent back to the server from Arduino’s sensors.
Some sensors to monitor the life & health of each plant may include:
- Thermistor Sensor: for soil and ambient temperatures
- Photocell Light Sensor: for ambient light monitoring
- Moisture Sensor: for soil moisture monitoring
- pH Level Sensor: for pH level monitoring
To expand on this idea even more, “nourishment” can also be given not only based on unique visits but from the overall internet “mood” from negative or positive “buzz” via social mediums: twitter, facebook, etc.
(Above: Adobe Flash Garden Online Experience UI Concept, click to enlarge)
As viewers visit the Online Experience, the statistics should become easily visualized by the health and growth of the plants, along with it’s sensor data. With the physical & emotional connection of real “live” visualization, this concept can demonstrate an extremely effective and powerful data visualization vehicle. Imagine if this “Flash Garden” could be available not only online, but also for the public to visit as an exhibit at one of the Adobe Campuses.
And for the record, I’m rooting for the Flash plant (Plant A).
Bryan Yen
[...] Yen, for his Adobe Flash Garden Data Visualization idea. Not only is it a really interesting idea (which is completely doable, but Bryan went the [...]
Congrats on winning Mike’s contest. This is a great idea & I’d love to see you build this - good luck!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike Chambers, Stacey Mulcahy and Matt Rozen, mykola bilokonsky. mykola bilokonsky said: RT @mesh: All who entered an idea win an Arduino Starter kit (thanks to Flash team and Adafruit) : http://bit.ly/aFdGmH [Awesome!] [...]
Congrats, Its a creative Idea to mix Flash and Arduino, thats cool…!!!
Excellent… and… sorry, I have no more words! Congratulations for the idea.
Seriously cool idea - you defo deserve the win so nice work!
Keep us posted so we can see how you progress (we dont need to see who the winner isnt!)
congrats, great idea
so great to see this idea, one week before I thought about this, but not really into specific, your idea gives me a inspiration…
also amazing for your photos, I like them
As viewers visit the Online Experience, the statistics should become easily visualized by the health and growth of the plants, along with it’s sensor data. With the physical & emotional connection of real “live” visualization, this concept can demonstrate an extremely effective and powerful data visualization vehicle. Imagine if this “Flash Garden” could be available not only online, but also for the public to visit as an exhibit at one of the Adobe Campuses.
+1