New media artist Helena Nikonole is taking the art of sound to an unusual place – a city-based hydroponic plant farm. Together with a group of scientists, she is playing different urban sounds to plants grown in water. The goal is to determine how this affects their growth.
According to the European Environment Agency, at least 20 per cent of Europe's city dwellers are exposed to chronic levels of noise that can be harmful to their health. But what about the natural environment? It seems that noise pollution can also impact animals, and even plants. It is difficult to determine exactly what the effect is, however, or to know which particular sounds are having a detrimental effect.
Together with scientists at Mendel University in Brno, Czechia, Nikonole has created an AI-powered system that exposes plants to different sound patterns and monitors their responses.
"We are researching how different sounds impact the plants," said Nikonole, who is based in Berlin and Istanbul. The aim is to understand the relationship between sounds and plant growth, and use AI to recreate optimal sound sequences for plants.
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