An evaluation of Empa-Tree and it’s data
With a finalised and installed design to assist with understanding obscured elements within a garden, Empa-Tree was placed in-situ to begin collecting data. This data, as previously mentioned, was looking at soil moisture and the activity within the garden.
Given the opportunity to receive feedback from industry professionals and academics regarding our work, Empa-Tree was displayed in-situ with other devices. This allowed for feedback from people removed from the work that led to this evaluation and anything that may have been overlooked in our process or design. Two rounds of visitors made themselves available for conversation at which time they were able to listen to what the purpose behind the device was and to give feedback.
The visitors found the visibility of the device and its feedback very convenient there could have been additional feedback to help attract attention. An example was given of an installation at Broadwater Gardens on the Gold Coast, that when a proximity sensor was activated a whistling noise was played at a nearby pylon. While this idea seems appropriate for a public entertainment area, the implementation of a similar device in a garden seems to be outside of context.
A lot of feedback came from what could be added rather than what could be improved or addressed. This comes back to the addition of sound with the rest of the device while not replacing or redefining functions. While this may be a valid option the addition of more tech for feedback that is already available can make the device less enticing to use.
Previous iterations of the program for Empa-Tree included a system for attracting attention if the soil moisture was low later in the afternoon when people would be generally watering the garden. This feedback was more visual based making use of the already integrated lights that would repeat a pattern until the soil moisture was raised. This functionality is something that should be put back into the device as it can assist the gardener in knowing if attention is required when they are not in the vicinity of that particular plant.
A constant while talking to the industry participants was the need to address what the underlying purpose of our challenge was and its link to developing a connection to a smart city and its citizens. When this was explained to the visitors, the use of shared data was mentioned between multiple devices. Whilst Empa-Tree was not obtaining data from another device, data that had been collected by Empa-Tree was being represented by 2 other devices within the garden for the demonstration. The use of data sharing has been a benefit in looking into ways of improving the involvement and collaboration within smart cities.
This insight is important in terms of how we should be looking at the development of smart cities. By making the selections of key, relevant and/or selected data representable and easily digested by the common citizen of a smart city, the level and quantity of involvement by the citizens can be. This can be seen from the city side that the monitoring of what data is being used and collected by the citizens to gauge areas of interest of residences.
