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Radioman390 wrote:
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| AP Headlines Lottery Traffic Audio Newspaper News 12 AP Video
|
|
|
| Japan Gadget Turns Plants Into Speakers
| Mon Sep 13, 1:44 PM
|
|
| TOKYO - The therapeutic power of flowers takes on new meaning with a
Japanese
| gadget that turns plants into audio speakers, making the petals and leaves
| tremble with good vibrations.
|
| Called Ka-on, which means "flower sound" in Japanese, the machine
consists of a
| donut-shaped magnet and coil at the base of a vase that hooks up to a CD
| player, stereo or TV.
|
| Place the flowers into the vase, turn on Ka-on and the magnet and coil
relay
| the sound vibrations up the stems through the plant's water tubes.
|
| Near your ear and hear the music emanate from the petals. Touch a
leaf, and
| feel it shake as though in a quiet dance.
|
| Later this month, you'll be able to carry on a telephone conversation
with a
| flower with a planned speaker phone model.
|
| Unlike regular speakers, which send sound in one direction, Ka-on
shoots it in
| all directions, filling an entire room with music in a more natural
ambiance.
|
| Masumi Gotoh, president of Let's Corp., a Nagoya-based
| telecommuncations-equipment company that developed and manufactures Ka-on,
| calls it ideal for flower table-arrangements at weddings, reception
desks at
| hospitals and decoration at restaurants.
|
| Ka-on vases and amplifiers come in various sizes, ranging in price
from $46 to
| $460. There's a version that works with potted plants, and a wireless
| connection will soon be available for piping music to the Ka-on.
|
| Not only does Ka-on deliver flowery music, it keeps bugs off plants
and helps
| cut flowers last longer, Gotoh claims.
|
| "The plant is happy listening to music," says Gotoh, showing off a
rubber plant
| hooked up to Ka-on in his Tokyo office. "Gerberas and sunflowers work
| especially well as speakers."
|
| Ka-on is also being used for concerts. Several Ka-on were planted near
a bamboo
| grove to play music at a recent event in Japan.
|
| About 3,000 of $46 Ka-on version, on sale via the Internet since July,
have
| been sold and some 10,000 orders have been received so far.
|
| ---
|
| On the Net:
|
| Let's Corp.: http://www.lets-co.co.jp/english/index.htm
|
|
|
Little Shop of Horrors...
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