Lots of stuff has been happening, and I have been crazy busy, however I have some updates of my thoughts.
Last week I really focused in on my user group, and with help from my visits to the Open Hardware Summit, I was able to focus my thoughts a little more, on who and how I should think about the people and organizations around my project.
Check out the presentation files about how these groups can come together.
Additionally some user test photos:
There was a recent article in the New York Times highlighting, a successful local hydroponic farm. The article brings up many interesting points about the segment to the restaurant business and the benefits of taste vs. soil based vegetables. Chefs, and restauranteurs discuss pros and cons hydroponics in a very intriguing NYT article.
The article makes me think that there is definitely a market for fresh local goods (hydroponic even); I wonder who is buying this produce? I am also curious about how these individuals feel about hydroponic vegetables, and if they have ever considered growing there own.
To me it seems there also might be another potential user group for my ideas.
This is a recap of my work to date exploring urban agriculture. Last semester I used two courses as a jumping off point to explore the subjects of data visualizations and urban aquaculture/ agriculture. You can see my final posts for each of the projects that combined together here: http://makingtoys.net/2011/05/17/easy-edibles/ & http://teaching.vargatron.com/dataVisSpring2011/?p=304
Additionally, you can check out a pdf of my first presentation, check back for more information about this project.