I began with a trip to the wonderful Jardinerie Truffaut at 85 Quai de la Gare.


I tried to find plants with stems that looked like buttons and not too fragile (or expensive).


 

at first i tried conductive foil tape but it did not stick to the leaves very well. so instead i taped the wires directly to the leaves with electrical tape.

 

The ‘chinese money plant’ was much more conductive than the [other one]. touching another leaf would trigger a leaf that was hooked up. when multiple leafs are plugged in, all keys are triggered.


Various videos of initial testings of the plant.

 


Maybe some paint can be useful in either channeling the electricity or with creating a proximity sensor. (probably the latter will be more effective)