EECS PhD student wins Best Paper award at prestigious conference

The award-winning paper, “Domestic Cultures of Plant Care: A Moss Terrarium Probe”, was recognised for its originality, methodological rigour, and potential impact on the field of interactive systems. The DIS 2025 Award Committee commended the work as a “forward-thinking, high-quality contribution” that exemplifies the spirit of the conference.

The research investigates how social and intergenerational dynamics shape the way people care for houseplants. Using a sensor-equipped moss terrarium as a “living ethnographic probe” in 11 households, the study explored how practices like gift-giving, shared care, and knowledge transfer frame people’s relationships with plants. The findings highlight five distinct domestic plant care cultures, challenging common assumptions in interactive system design.

Rather than focusing on individual behavioural change, the study calls for plant technologies that support shared and culturally embedded practices of care. This work helps reframe houseplants from decorative objects to living household members. It could help reduce plant mortality - which is often around 50% for houseplants - and reduce waste.

The project was supported by the EPSRC through the Intelligent Games and Game Intelligence Centre for Doctoral Training and co-authored with Professor Pat Healey (Queen Mary) and Professor Sebastian Deterding (Imperial College London). Future plans include a collaboration with a Japanese research group to develop networked terraria.

The paper will be presented during the conference on 8^th July in Madeira. You can read it here: https://camps.aptaracorp.com/ACM_PMS/PMS/ACM/DIS25/59/bee48e6a-30bd-11f0-ada9-16bb50361d1f/OUT/dis25-59.html