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Turn Your House Plants Into Speakers
thermopile writes "According to this story, your everyday houseplants could be turned into room-filling speakers. Called Ka-on ('Flower Sound' in Japanese), the machine consists of a donut-shaped magnet and coil at the base of a vase that hooks up to a CD player, stereo or TV. Prices range from $46 to $460. I don't know about you, but I'd hate getting fragged by that plant over there while playing Doom 3..."
Hmmmm, I wonder what the sound quality is... I recently bought this device, but the sound quality is really poor... nice idea though!
- Leon Mergen
http://www.solatis.com
Three of Nine
Déjà vu?
:wq!
This is a report, but not of the same article. You can mention things more than once! :-)
"Later this month, you'll be able to carry on a telephone conversation with a flower with a planned speaker phone model."
So this is indeed new! I would love that. Now I just read Light Fantastic - where Rincewind is convinced the trees aren't talking to him!
Little did he know it was all Ka-on (flower sound) and twoflower could have told him that!
lol zomg rolflmao etc etc.
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
This is pretty cool, especially for some geeks that are high on gardening.
Would like to try this myself.
Sunset over the lake, cool mist over the bridge; A leave upon the ripples, the snow reflects its glow.
... those really annoying plants that dance with the music!
But I'm a music producer, quality over novelty.
Edirol MA-20D's for me! Even though they are not any where near as good as the Yamaha NS10's.
Karma whoring
for more accurate sound. Ipod -> FM transmitter -> Tube radio -> Flower...
"The plant is happy listening to music," says Gotoh, showing off a rubber plant hooked up to Ka-on in his Tokyo office. "Gerberas and sunflowers work especially well as speakers."
...
I'm not sure I'll take horticultural advice from someone who has a _rubber_ plant on his desk
---
"The chances of a demonic possession spreading are remote -- relax."
Has anyone studied has this affects the life expectancy of affected plants? I guess it may depend on the music you play. If you play Kenny G, they won't last a week. Celine Dion, maybe 2.
Simpy
I remember some TV show talking about the affects of music on plants. They did slightly better w/ classical, normal w/o music of course and wilted w/ heavy metal. I wonder how a racing game vs. the sims or doom 3 would do.
Something... just something... tells me that this isn't going to catch on. The fact that its both Japanese and relatively useless is a hint.
I quote from the original -
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday July 21, @02:44PM from the listening-to-foghat-on-your-ficas dept. Kerhop writes "People who like talking to their plants can now enjoy a musical accompaniment, thanks to a Japanese invention that turns petals and leaves into amplifiers. Several others are also reporting details of how it works."
On second thoughts - this plant as speaker idea is not so hot either....
See that long UID - that's what you get for lurking too long
Now, well...if a tree makes a sound, and there's no one around to hear it - can it still fry your amplifier?
I am amazed that you managed to make that point without mentioning soviet russia... new here?
Does the sound power depend on the size of the plant ? It could be interesting to try that on trees, I just imagine putting up a festival in my garden and using the two trees I have as baffles...
Would it not be easier in that case for the government to dissolve the people and elect another? - Bertold Brecht
I am absolutely amazed that they named it in honest-to-god pseudo-Chinese rather than calling it 'furauaa saundo' or something.
Next, they'll start naming things in actual Japanese. Oh, wait, that would require attention to aesthetics and meaning rather than to sounding cool and vague.
Bring back Heian period Japanese, say I.
PS I am not a crank.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
Here you can see some pictures:
http://www.lets-direct.jp/fsp/fsp3.htm (Mostly pictures of flowers in a vase).
I wonder if the last vase is really seven times more expensive than the first one.
Me
I am actually quite interested in this thing. The big question is what plant species have the best acoustics (i never thought id say that). Would it be better to have a plant with large leaves, small leaves, one stem, bushy, or do flowers sound better. If someone knows something about this please share. And I wouldn't consider this a mere novelty. In the narrow sense, yes it it to people like me but for what I think is the targeted demographic, people who own a hackey sack (or frisbee) collection, whittle wood, are always wearing a "Phish" t-shirt, and watch "willie wonka and the chocolate factory" on a weekly basis, having a musical plant is a major advance in critical technology. Unfortunately, the marketing strategy failed to notice that the young and avid gardeners of modern society don't keep their house plants lying around the house, out in the open where any one can find them, like say, the police. I think that once some acoustic testing gets done I'm gonna have to invest everything I Have in the bonzai tree industry. Once the word gets out about the acoustics I'll be making a nickel for every tree manufactured and assembled in factories nation wide. But seriously, what factors would make the difference for better sound?
Look at the flower arrangements. They're comprised of small flowers accompanied by big, flat leaves. My guess is that the leaves generate most of the sound, while the flowers generate most of the press.
Turn cockroaches into USB Flash memories?
The best planning can be done after the project completes.
I hooked this up to a bowl of petunias and the speakers blurted out "Oh no, not again."
I figure if I knew why it did this I'd know a lot more about the nature of the universe.
bytesmythe
Hypocrisy is the resin that holds the plywood of society together.
-- Scott Meyer
my speakers just died.
;)
And the way my plants hold up, i'd have to buy new
speakers every two weeks.
All well and good (plants liking music), but what would be long term effects of exposing plants directly to all vibrations (esp. if you like high volume)
I for one wouldnt connect my award winning lily to it.
(Afterthought) Got to check warranty for something like:
"Company is not liable for any damge sustained by the plans due to the use of this equipment."
then couldn't they also be used as microphones? Speakers are usually microphonic; stick a set of headphones in your mike socket next time you're stuck without a real mike in your NetMeeting sesh.
Imagine playing Zero Wing with plant speakers. To hear a flower saying to you:
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US.
That would be bizarre.
Maybe you could combine the two ideas and produce a burning bush that talks.
In mother Japan, flower speaks to YOU.
Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!
"Don't waste your time or time will waste you" -MUSE
I just got this new geranium and you've gotta hear it? Sweet treble, clear midtones, and WICKED bass!
'The inventor of the gadget, Keiji Koga, said: "We are finally able to experience plants and flowers with all five of our natural senses."'
I'm guessing this guy's never slept in a tall pine forest. The sounds are amazing.
Speakers, bah! I'm looking for a way to turn plants - say, all the trees in my garden - into microphones, so I can eavesdrop (leavesdrop?) on people who might be plotting against me. Anyone who knows how to do this should email dsidious@imperialpalace.coruscant.gov.
Don't blame me, I voted for Durga.