For city dwellers, it is quite a pain to manage growing flowers, vegetables or fruits. In fact, for most of them it is quite impossible. A team from San Francisco decided to change this by coming up with a gadget called Niwa. The gadget pairs up with your smartphone and provides an indoor greenhouse where growing all sorts of vegetables is possible. Niwa makes use of a built-in miniature computer that can tell when the plants need water, light, optimal temperature and acts accordingly.
Niwa makes use of special sensors in order to pick up readings that allow it to take action as per the need. Niwa is to hit the shelves in three sizes and shall be delivered in an easy-to-assemble kit. Once the assembling is completed, the seeds shall be planted and the details will be entered in Niwa smartphone app as well. Afterwards, The gadget kicks in and adjusts the settings to best match the environment that encourages growth of the particular seed. The innovation comes from a San Francisco pair; Javier Morillias, 32, and Agnieszka Nazaruk, 27.
Mr Morillias said: ‘I kept seeing trucks filled with different vegetables ready to be delivered to various countries and it made no sense to me. I started wondering what happened, why the production had gone that far from the consumer. The answer I found was because we just can’t grow them ourselves because of the lack of time, space, conditions or skills. I decided to start using technology to make the whole process simple and to enable everyone to grow their own food wherever they are. Niwa is based in hydroponic technology, which is a soil-less way to grow plants, where the plant takes nutrients directly from the water. The Niwa controls the temperature, humidity, and light cycles and the automated irrigation system will also water and feed your plants whenever they need it. It is connected to the internet and there is a smartphone app that sets the right growing variables according to your chosen plant. With hydroponics and our current range of sizes, you can grow just about anything that will fit inside the tray, apart from trees and root vegetables.’
The team was able to raise $151,000 on Kickstarter and Niwa is expected to be released in January 2015. The mini version will cost $299, standard $349 and the premium will be priced at $399.