It’s fun to add the word vertical in front of other words: integration, Horizon, garden. That last one may be particularly relevant if you want to grow plants but don’t have a lot of horizontal space — like when you’re doing so indoors.
Vertical Green, a Mexican firm that creates vertical gardens, is bringing its speciality to Kickstarter with an at-home kit that makes cultivating a wall full of plants and herbs pretty simple. Plug & Plant is a wall-mounted, modular system for prepackaged seeds, ready to grow in a soil-free environment.
With what the company calls “smart biofoam,” a biodegradable polyurethane-starch foam that gives the plants’ roots room to grow, users can stick the “plugs” on one of the panel’s 12 slots. A 1.2-gallon tank provides water, and light, humidity, and temperature sensors gather feedback on what’s happening in each plug and communicate with smartphones via Bluetooth.
Except for users adding water to the tank, the entire system is pretty automated. Once the accompanying Android or iOS app knows what kind of seeds each plug is housing, it will make sure each receives the right amount water. Excess H20 flows down to a “canal,” which feeds back into the tube, so you should only have to refill once a month. There isn’t a way to control for temperature or light with the Plug & Plant, but if you know you’ll be putting it in a bit of a dim corner, you can choose from over 30 varieties of plugs based on how much light they require. Some of the plugs include arugula, basil, strawberries, petunias, cherry tomatoes, chili peppers, and dill.
A starter kit is going for $49 on Kickstarter, $20 off the retail price. That includes the panel, canal, tank, sensor, and 12 types of plugs, and everything should ship in May of 2016. Or get a few of the modular panels, fill your wall with plants, and pretend you’re living in The Secret Garden.
Update 5/9/2016: It seems funding for this Kickstarter was cancelled in November 2015. Digital Trends has reached out to Vertical Green for more information and will update this post when we hear from the company.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.
With AI progressing so fast, it's only a matter of time before we start getting AI companions like the ones we used to see in movies like R2-D2, Wall-E, or Baymax. Now, Singapore-based OKA Technology has unveiled Mori, a cute little AI companion that looks less like a conventional home robot and more like someone turned the Pokémon Foongus into a table lamp.
Mori isn't meant to clean your house or control your smart home, but to serve as what OKA calls a "Nature Companion." It uses subtle movements, warm lighting, nature-inspired sounds, and small reactions to make its presence around the house feel calming rather than distracting. Mori can sit quietly while you read, sway along to music, welcome you when you enter a room, or encourage you to slow down for a moment without requiring a screen or a conversation.