Twitter will be in control of a unique digital garden at the 100th RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year.
Fresh garden ‘Digital Capabilities’ will respond to live Twitter activity, enabling the public to directly influence how the garden appears at any one time.
Created by academics at the University of Lincoln, UK, working with award-winning designers Harfleet & Harfleet, the garden will be divided diagonally by an autonomous-panelled screen which separates the planting of two distinct zones.
A tapestry of familiar plants and foliage will greet visitors, with the partially obscured exotic planting behind the partition providing a dramatic contrast. The panelled screen will respond in real-time to the ‘buzz’ of excitement about RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as measured by activity on Twitter using the #rhschelsea tag, with the inner depths of the garden only being seen when public excitement is at its peaks.
The project is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between academics from the University of Lincoln’s School of Computer Science, School of Psychology and School of Architecture who are all involved in the development of the installation.