Scientists have developed a new sensor that can alert humans to the
needs of their household plants - like the amount of sunlight or water
required. The two-pronged sensor can report on sunlight, temperature,
water and fertiliser conditions by using low-power Bluetooth signals to
send alerts.
Dangerous conditions for plants may trigger extra
warnings through the 'Flower Power' app on a person's smartphone or
tablet. Flower Power was developed by Parrot, a wireless tech company
and presented at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas,
website TechNewsDaily reported. The sensor and app combination also acts
as a digital guide for clueless plant owners.
People can search
for plant-care instructions from a database of 6,000 plants, or even
search by colour and similar picture characteristics if they don't know
the name of the plant. A single battery allows the Flower Power sensor
to send out Bluetooth signal updates every 15 minutes and still lasts
for about six months.
Parrot has yet to figure out the selling
price for its new product. But the company is betting that Flower Power
can pave the way as the first of many low-power Bluetooth sensors that
could transform ordinary household gadgets into smart devices. Because
it's cheaper, everything can be connected to the Internet," said Arthur
Petry, a business development representative at Parrot.
In pics: Best of CES 2013