Yves Behar has recently designed Edyn, a new gardening system that allows you to create, interact with and nurture your garden like never before.
The Edyn Smart Garden System consists of a Garden Sensor and a Water Valve. The Garden Sensor inserts into your soil, reading nutrient levels, moisture, sunlight, and other external factors that affect the overall health of your plants. The Edyn App displays this data as a real-time snapshot of your garden, and pushes alerts and suggestions to maximize plant health.
"The thought was simple and profound: if one could see specifically what his or her plants need, then the relationship between gardener and garden becomes something profoundly intimate," commented Behar.
"In today's busy world, the average person often doesn't have time to invest in their garden, and is making educated guesses as to what their plants need. Our goal was to create with Jason's sensory technology a seamless communication between nature and its caretaker, while designing something beautiful in the context of the garden.
Our Industrial Design, Digital User Experience and Brand teams looked at many different possibilities in terms of aesthetics, storytelling and connectivity, and positioning in the garden. Inserting into the earth like a shovel or stake, the Edyn Garden Sensor industrial design creates a visual bridge between nature and technology that seems to blossom out of the earth.
We selected solar power, as the device should rely on the same natural energy as the plants surrounding it. The 'stem' (the sensor) reads the soil's moisture and fertility, as well as temperature, air humidity, and sunlight. The information is then transmitted through WiFi to an app, providing the gardener with everything they need to know to create their perfect garden."
Founded by soil scientist Jason Aramburu, the Edyn Smart Garden System is the product of many years of research in farming communities in Panama and Kenya. Aramburu started a sustainable fertilizer company that worked primarily with small farmers in these areas, where he witnessed many of the challenges they faced, and wondered if technology and sensors could help us all become better growers and, ultimately, better conservationists. His thoughts became action when he teamed up with Behar and fuseproject in 2013 to create what became Edyn.
By measuring and quantifying environmental data, Edyn enables users to more efficiently manage our precious natural resources like water, soil and organic fertilizer. The Edyn Garden Sensor constantly monitors its environment and learns exactly what your plants need. It is compatible with vegetable, fruit, herbal, decorative and medicinal plants. The Edyn Water Valve delivers the right amount of water to your plants without waste.
"With Jason's knowledge as a soil scientist, we were able to design the app to give the user a contextual snapshot of your garden in a clear and concise way, maximizing their gardening potential," Behar explained. "Not only do you get the information from your sensor, but the app also shows which plants or groups of plants will grow best in your garden, provides tips based on weather and soil nutrient levels, and sends you in the moment updates and notifications. Aesthetically, we integrated the diamond shape of the product into the app for a fluid visual experience.
To enhance the experience, we also designed the Edyn Water Valve - a sensor that attaches to your sprinkler system. When the Edyn Garden Sensor reads that the soil moisture is low, the water valve automatically turns on the sprinklers - giving your plants water only when they need it.
From there, we came up with the name - Edyn. The utopian garden. A place of purity, of fruitfulness and life. The logo, a symmetrical yellow leaf, shows simplicity and perfection; the color evoking the sense of euphoria you feel when the leaves change color in the fall. We integrated a holistic design language in both the product and logo, creating a cohesive experience between the physical, the organic, and the digital world."