Nature Cognita

Nature Cognita is an R&D project that integrates biological and digital ecosystems. In partnership with the Sovereign Nature Initiative Nature Cognita team build installations that turn nature into a digital artist.

Nature Cognita tests an emerging technology called plant microbial fuel cells. With the help of photosynthesis and the activity of bacteria in soil PMFC-systems allow living plants to produce clean energy.

The project started as a series of science-art installations where plants in special ceramic pots were turned into batteries. One Nature Cognita installation produces enough electricity to power simple environmental sensors. This allows to harvest information about the plants' microclimate like temperature and moisture on different levels.

As a partner of Nature Cognita our team developed an algorithm that turned data collected from environmental sensors into an abstract 3D-model. For each new portion of the sensing data harvested by a human or by the plant itself — we call it "digital pollination" — an abstract 3D-model is generated.

These models are digital representations of the plants' life inside installations and can change when the plants' microclimate is changing.

To learn more about the project, please go to: https://cognita.dev/