Flower Power sensor helps plants communicate their needs

Scientists have developed a new sensor that can alert humans to the needs of their household plants - like the amount of sunlight or water required. The two-pronged sensor can report on sunlight, temperature, water and fertiliser conditions by using low-power Bluetooth signals to send alerts.

Dangerous conditions for plants may trigger extra warnings through the 'Flower Power' app on a person's smartphone or tablet. Flower Power was developed by Parrot, a wireless tech company and presented at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in Las Vegas, website TechNewsDaily reported. The sensor and app combination also acts as a digital guide for clueless plant owners.

People can search for plant-care instructions from a database of 6,000 plants, or even search by colour and similar picture characteristics if they don't know the name of the plant. A single battery allows the Flower Power sensor to send out Bluetooth signal updates every 15 minutes and still lasts for about six months.

Parrot has yet to figure out the selling price for its new product. But the company is betting that Flower Power can pave the way as the first of many low-power Bluetooth sensors that could transform ordinary household gadgets into smart devices. Because it's cheaper, everything can be connected to the Internet," said Arthur Petry, a business development representative at Parrot.

In pics: Best of CES 2013