Meet Eater
A real-life plant is watered depending on the amount of social interaction it receives on its Facebook page
Project details
Brief
Entertain visitors and raise awareness of The Edge, a state-funded digital culture centre
Strategy
A garden that lives or dies depending on the amount of interaction it receives in-person and on its Facebook page
Implementation
The plants purr and croon when stroked, and the garden is watered when a visitor posts on its Facebook wall
Deliverables
- Design installation
- Facebook page
Client
The Edge at the State Library of Queensland in conjunction with the University of Queensland
Agency
Studio Farrago
Product Owner
Markets
- Australia (primary)
- Global (secondary)
Audience
- Brisbane digital natives
- International technology media
Lifespan
Launched: 12 May 2010
Retired: 26 November 2010
Outcomes
- A peak of 9.8k Facebook fans
- International media attention
- Increase in facility utilisation
Key technologies
Arduino
Adobe Flash
Facebook Open Graph API
Electronics
Artefacts
Concept
The Meet Eater is a design provocation that encourages people to interact and engage with a Facebook page to sustain the life of a real garden of plants.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Installation
By situating the garden to be a social actor in our lives, the installation explores whether it is possible to form an emotional attachment with non-human entities, particularly through the utilisation of online social networking services.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Communication
The installation plays on the adage that plants respond to "talk, attention, and affection" which was popularised in recent times by one of the world's most prominent horticulturalists, Charles [Prince of Wales] who believes that talking to his plants encourages growth.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Presence
A (thriving) pot plant can be re-visualised as an ambient display of its owners' dedication to its development. A well-kept plant is more significant than a mere ornament for a household; it becomes mapped to its carer's sense of place and understood reality.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Exhibition
The installation was situated at The Edge, a digital culture situated at the State Library of Queensland for the majority of 2010 and presented as an installation at the OzCHI 2010 interaction design conference in Brisbane, Australia.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Outcome
The installation was re-planted with three iterations after drowning in a sea of love and water from an overwhelming amount of social interaction received online. While the former of the two deaths can be credited to over-stimulation and low watering thresholds, the latter death can be attributed to a substantial increase in the number of Facebook fans after the design intervention was published on several social media news blogs and over 45 international news publications.
This time-lapse video shows the first iteration of the garden.
Documentation
The installation was designed and developed by Bashkim Isai as a collaborative effort between the State Library of Queensland and The Edge at the State Library of Queensland.
Results of the design intervention formed the basis for the master thesis Are we [here and] there yet? Exploring Online Profiles in Reality available via the University of Queensland.
Photograph by Jacque Prior
Academic publication
OzCHI 2010
Association for Computing Machinery OzCHI 2010 Conference available via the University of Queensland.
"Meet Eater: Affectionate computing, social networks and human-plant interaction"
Media publications
A selection of articles published about the Meet Eater project
Australia
MX Brisbane
I've planted myself on Facebook
ABC 612 [Radio Interview]
Befriend this plant on Facebook or it will die
ABC News
Plant feeds on Facebook fans
United Kingdom
Wired
Plant watered when it gets Facebook fans dies
The Independent
Meet Eater, the social networking plant that needs your friendship to grow
BBC Click
Meet Eater Video [4:24-5:00]
BBC Mundo
La planta que es alimentada por Facebook
United States
All Facebook
New Plant Relies On Facebook Interactions For Survival
Trend Hunter
Social Media Sustenance - The Meet Eater Plant Survives on Social Interactions With Users
Mashable
Meet the First Plant That Requires Facebook Fans to Survive
Canada
The Star
Garden depends on Facebook fans for nourishment
Your Home
Garden depends on Facebook fans for nourishment
Singapore
Straits Times
FB-fed plant watered to death
Design Taxi
In Australia, a Plant Feeds on Facebook Attention
Germany
Yenodio
Der grüne Facebook - Daumen
TechFieber
Meet Eater: Facebook-Pflanze frisst sich fett an Freunden
Finland
Ilkka
Nettisympatia tukahdutti australialaiskasvin
Iltalehti
Facebook-ruokittu kasvi hoidetaan hengiltä
Spain
Baquia
Una planta (real) que se alimenta gracias a Facebook
Indonesia
Detikinet
Meet Eater, Tanaman yang Butuh Cinta dari Facebooker
Chile
TecnoGrafo
La primera planta que requiere de fans de Facebook para vivir
Brazil
R7
Planta australiana depende de fãs no Facebook e mensagens para sobreviver
Italy
Jacktech
La pianta che vive sul social network
Czech Republic
Zive
Meet Eater: rostlina, která k životu potřebuje vodu, živiny a Facebook
Poland
Gazeta
Roślina, która rośnie tylko dzięki Facebookowi
Russia
РИА Новости
Появился сад, питающийся активностью пользователей Facebook
Exhibitions
The Edge
State Library of Queensland
Launched: 12 May 2010
Brisbane, Australia
Retired: 21 November 2010OzCHI 2010
OzCHI 2010
Launched: 22 November 2010
Brisbane, Australia
22nd Conference of the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group of Australia on Computer-Human Interaction
Retired: 26 November 2010
Collaborators
- Bashkim Isai
Product Owner - Stephen Viller
Academic Supervision - Jacque Prior
Photography & Logo Design - Avdyl Isai
Carpentry