Translators

The Object

A biophilic companion that gives houseplants a voice.

Role

ID, UI/UX

Timeline

30 weeks

Skills

Behavioral Research, 3D CAD & Render, Rapid Prototyping

INTRODUCTION

We surround ourselves with living things—and can't keep them alive. The problem isn't effort; it's silence. Plants can't tell us what they need until it's too late. Translators gives them a voice, surfacing the patterns behind your care so each decision is more informed than the last.

How can the tools we touch every day become participants in our care—not just instruments we use?

We surround ourselves with living things—and can’t keep them alive. The problem isn’t effort; it’s silence. Plants can’t tell us what they need until it’s too late. Translators gives them a voice, surfacing the patterns behind your care so each decision is more informed than the last.

How can the tools we touch every day become participants in our care—not just instruments we use?

of Americans keep at least one houseplant.
We crave the connection.

PROBLEM

A Broken Loop

Plant care is a one-way relationship. We give attention and care—but the plant has no way to answer back.

01 · The Knowledge Gap

We begin without understanding what a plant truly needs. Care becomes guesswork.

02 · The Feedback Gap

We can't hear the plant in the moment. Its signals arrive too late—after the damage.

03 · The Learning Gap

Without feedback, we never improve. The same mistakes repeat, plant after plant.

HUMAN

PLANT

(no feedback)

HUMAN

PLANT

(no feedback)

HUMAN

PLANT

(no feedback)

of non-expert gardeners kill at least one houseplant a year.
We can't keep alive the things we love.

PROCESS - Baseline

What Does It Mean to "Know" a Plant?

"Plant diagnostic tools are what heart rate monitors are to humans."
— Ecologist

"The timing of techniques is weather-dependent."
— Bonsai nursery owner

What Does It Mean to “Know” a Plant?

“Plant diagnostic tools are what heart rate monitors are to humans.”
— Ecologist

“The timing of techniques is weather-dependent.”
— Bonsai nursery owner

What Does It Mean to “Know” a Plant?

“Plant diagnostic tools are what heart rate monitors are to humans.”
— Ecologist

“The timing of techniques is weather-dependent.”
— Bonsai nursery owner

PROCESS - Study

Do We Care More for What We Can Relate To?

I ran a 4-week study with 24 participants, each given a plant and a journal. Twelve recorded objective care only. Twelve added anthropomorphizing—giving their plant feelings, a personality, a voice.

Participant photos over a 4 week period

This participant watered multiple times a week and felt their plant's distress—but never connected the two. They had empathy without understanding. They could feel something was wrong; they couldn't tell what, or what to change.

This participant watered multiple times a week and felt their plant’s distress—but never connected the two. They had empathy without understanding. They could feel something was wrong; they couldn’t tell what, or what to change.

Connection drives care—but care without accurate feedback turns empathy into anxiety. People don't need more information or more emotion. They need both: to feel with their plant, and to understand it.

Translators was designed to do both—a companion that earns your empathy, and a translator that turns it into the right action.

Connection drives care—but care without accurate feedback turns empathy into anxiety. People don’t need more information or more emotion. They need both: to feel with their plant, and to understand it.

Translators was designed to do both—a companion that earns your empathy, and a translator that turns it into the right action.

PROCESS - Prototyping

Finding the Right Intervention

1. Plant Care Kits (Too Reactive)
Kits provide tools, but rely on knowledge the user doesn't have yet, separating the tool from the plant's immediate needs.

2. Smart Planters (Too Restrictive)
A one-size-fits-all vessel couldn't accommodate the diversity of houseplants, root systems, and soil volumes.

3. Insertable Meters
Meters won on versatility—they work across any species or pot size. But existing meters look like sterile medical diagnostics, inducing anxiety.

From Diagnostic to Relational

Reference: Kodama tree spirits, Studio Ghibli.

Final Outcome

Closing The Loop

The Healed Loop

HUMAN

PLANT

the plant, translated

HUMAN

PLANT

the plant, translated

Translators is a system that addresses the painpoints in plant care. Translators help discover your own behavioural patterns that are hard to pinpoint along the journey with your plants making the plant care experience more empathetic and informative.

Immediate Feedback: Translating soil conditions into relational, visual cues.

Status Effects

Long-Term Memory: Bridging the learning gap by tracking patterns over time.

Reflection

Tools as Participants

Translators proved that Industrial Design can do more than create passive instruments. By interpreting the interdependent system of a plant, its environment, and its owner, we can design objects that act as true mediators. When we shift our focus from human-centred convenience to multi-species connection, we don't just keep plants alive—we change our own behavior.

Next projects

02. The Network

FLO

02. The Network

FLO

03. The Method

Co-Designing The Classroom

03. The Method

Co-Designing The Classroom