BioSensing Garden (2013)

A sculptural garden and water-droplet fountain that visualizes data from a Fitbit, (an exercise tracking device). The fountain is made from a re-purposed printer that drips water onto a pane of tilted glass.

The droplets are timed and placed precisely so that they create visualize the data from the fitbit as they fall. Imagery will be projected onto the droplet patterns as they fall onto a garden below. The data droplets are the sole source of water for the plants and so their health is a direct reflection of the amount of exercise from the participant. Jennifer Parker and Engineer Professor Mircea Teodorescu worked together with students Joel Horne, Sean McGowen, Ian Ayyad, and Richard Vallejos to develop the BioSenseing Garden project as part of the  OpenLab 2013-14 DANM Mechatronic Research Cohort at UC Santa Cruz.  

The project was exhibited at the Makers Faire in San Mateo, ZERO1 in San Jose, and at The LAB in San Francisco.