Translating Melvin

#translatingMelvin: an interactive installation that translated a fern into tweets to introduce Treeloc, a technical translation company.

Objective

Treeloc is a translation company specialized in technical documents; documents requiring such a high level of specialization that, according to them, they can translate anything. The company wanted to make itself known through a viral action that would help it reach new clients with creative concerns and a technological, innovative profile.

Idea

If they can translate anything, why not a plant? We created an interactive physical installation capable of translating Melvin: a common fern connected to sensors that measure and translate everything around it —light, temperature, humidity, weather.

Implementation

A series of algorithms define four moods, and the plant responded to the user in the form of tweets: happy, sad, angry and even dreaming. The campaign remained online for two years and was completed with a direct marketing send-out inviting prospect clients to meet Melvin and everything Treeloc could translate for them.