Telepot
The Telepot is a plant pot that lets two people in different places grow plants together.
The Telepot is a proposition for a physical communication device that can transfer physical impulses such as touch, heat, movement or life, across spaces.
In a set of Telepots, the plants become an organic mediator between two people.
My Role
Product Design
Illustration
Arduino Coding
Physical Prototyping
Student work at Harvard Graduate School of Design
Telepots work in a pair, and the pair starts with the same plant seed. When a Telepot is watered, the paired Telepot is simultaneously watered through the Telepot’s watering system. Linked Telepots are always watered together.
The health of a Telepot pair can be a physical metaphor of the health of the relationship of the owners. In order to maintain healthy Telepots the caretakers must have a protocol for watering the Telepots and follow the regimen. To partake in a regimen with physical consequences together means to share responsibility.
It’s difficult to partake in physical activities remotely and virtual interactions often seem weightless as they can rarely bear physical consequences. The Telepot enables remote interactions to grow physical substance.
Prototyping
Parts of a single Telepot
When someone waters their Telepot, the water humidity sensor senses the watering activity. This activity is communicated to the paired Telepot via the Wifi board. The paired Telepot received the signal and initiates a self-watering event.