Plants and specifically indoor pot plants have featured as a prominent object in human-computer interaction (HCI) studies for more than two decades. Motivated by recent discourse in posthumanist and entanglement HCI, this paper seeks to contribute to the more-than-human turn in interaction design. It uses a twofold approach. We first engage in theoretically grounded inductive reasoning to postulate that the role and agency of plants in interaction design projects ought to change. This is backed up with a deductive approach based on a critical meta-analysis using a methodical review of human-plant interaction studies. The analysis identified a range of characteristics that we discuss in relation to study motives and outcomes. Our findings suggest that so far, plants-as-objects in interaction design are used as (i) a proxy for nature; (ii) a trigger for human experiences or; (iii) an interface for other actions. Our synthesis combining theory and meta-analysis contributes to ongoing design discourse on the ethical and societal implications of using plants in technologically mediated environments. We offer reflective remarks on how HCI can re-conceptualise plants from utilitarian objects towards recognising their value as living co-inhabitants.

This work discusses our project, which focuses on the new possibilities of methods of communication enhanced by digital networks. The aim of the project is to develop prototypes for a system with which the sense of existence of a person and others can be digitally shared and experienced (or digitally coexist) through tangible devices without the need to actively engage in the operation of such devices. While studies of ambient intelligence generally focus on the visualization or experience of ever-changing customized information, this project is more specific and looks closely at how one can recognize the existence of other humans in digitally networked remote places. The paper covers the conceptual and technical development of the project by demonstrating a number of prototype developments and a range of development tools utilized including a combination of Macromedia Flash and Director and Parallax's Basic stamp, which are easily available and accessible even for people with no technical background, such as the author himself.