In the absence of accessible outdoor space, many people, especially those living in tower blocks, flats, and other shared accommodation, have taken to growing plants, fruits, and vegetables indoors.

The Italian startup, GardenStuff, took to the virtual CES 2021 floor to showcase its Internet of Things vertical garden, ELIoT.

What Is ELIoT?

The limiting factor when trying to grow plants and fruit indoors is space. In cities worldwide, flats and apartments tend to have little to spare, and certainly not enough to accommodate an indoor garden. ELIoT is a connected solution to this problem from GardenStuff. The vertical garden unit looks like a large photo frame with pockets for you to insert your plants.

This helps on a practical level, although the wall-mounted design isn't, in itself, unique. However, what makes ELIoT standout is the integration with smart features. The unit comes with five sensors embedded into the plant pots.

These are capable of gathering data about your indoor garden. These sensors sync data to the ELIoT smartphone app. From there, you can view trends, set alerts, and stay up to date with your indoor plants' progress and health.

Every six minutes, the sensors gather data on the local environment and soil. ELIoT runs on a rechargeable battery, with up to six months of use. As a result, you can put the unit anywhere in your home. The ELIoT app stores the environmental data and can offer plant recommendations that are best suited for your space.

ELIoT Benefits

Although indoor gardens were already desirable before the pandemic, the various lockdowns and shelter in place measures implemented around the world led to us spending more time inside. Throughout 2020, it became increasingly clear that we value nature, and there is something intrinsically pleasing and beneficial to our health about plants.

With many of us working from home for some time to come, it makes sense to craft your home into a place you enjoy spending time. However, it can be tough to maintain your indoor garden's health, especially as the seasons change. This is even more challenging if you've not looked after plants before.

ELIoT combines the necessary space-saving design with smart features to make the experience a bit easier. In conjunction with the smartphone app, the five sensors will help you look after your plants with minimal stress and allow you to remain focused on all the other matters in your life.

In keeping with the product's environmental mindset, the materials used for ELIoT's construction are entirely recyclable. So, when ELIoT's time is at an end, you won't need to feel too bad about decommissioning the unit.

ELIoT Availability

Unfortunately, ELIoT is still under development and won't be ready for commercial sale for some time. However, the company's ambition is to release a sustainable, environmentally-friendly, connected indoor garden.

If GardenStuff can make good on that promise, then you'll soon be able to enjoy the health benefits of surrounding yourself with nature without stress.