Smart Plants on Wheels: Enhancing Indoor Productivity Using Smart Plants and Autonomous Ground Drones

Smart plants, sensor-equipped plant containers, are emerging as a promising solution for monitoring indoor environments and human activities. The plant containers are usually strategically placed close to areas where people typically spend time with the aim of enhancing indoor quality, satisfaction, and comfort. We contribute an innovative concept, smart plants on wheels, that integrates smart plant containers with autonomous ground vehicles allowing them to move between different areas within a workspace. By doing so, we aim to foster improved well-being and work productivity. To demonstrate our concept, we have built a proof-of-concept prototype. In addition, we explore applications and research challenges to establish a broader research agenda. In a user study involving $N=24$N=24 participants, we found that our concept significantly enhances productivity in a real working environment. Specifically, we are able to accelerate response times by up to 32% (in complex cases).