astronomy

Telegarden

Telegarden is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telegarden rather than just read about it. In short: The TeleGarden was a telerobotic community garden for the Internet. Starting in the mid-1990s, it allowed users to view, plant and take care of a small garden, using an Adept-1 industrial robotic arm controlled online.

Key takeaways

Telegarden belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telegarden to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telegarden from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The TeleGarden was a telerobotic community garden for the Internet. Starting in the mid-1990s, it allowed users to view, plant and take care of a small garden, using an Adept-1 industrial robotic arm controlled online.

History The project began at the University of Southern California with project directors Ken Goldberg of University of Southern California, and Joseph Santarromana, a University of California, Irvine artist at the time known for his video installations. They envisioned it as an art installation challenging the notion of the Internet and "consider[ing] the 'post-nomadic' community, where survival favors those who work together." Project members included George A. Bekey, Steven Gentner, Rosemary Morris, Carl Sutter, Jeff Wiegley, and Erich Berger. The Telegarden went online in June 1995. During its first year, it attracted over 9000 members. In September 1996, the Telegarden was moved to the Ars Electronica Center in Austria where it was originally planned to be on display for one year, though it ended up remaining active until August 2004 (2004-08). The Telegarden was a fusion between old technology (agriculture) and new technology (the Internet). The notion of a physical garden that is operated by users online was appealing to Goldberg because "it was the most absurd". This new media art raised questions of legitimacy. How are users to know that the garden actually exists, or that any of their motions matter? Goldberg stressed that, "media technology generally facilities the suspension of disbelief." In its nine years, the installation had 10,000 members, and 100,000 people visited the physical exhibit. Users interactivity created a miniature social network. People became protective of plants, even territorial.

References

Further reading Ken Goldberg, ed. (March 2000). The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet. A Leonardo Book. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-07203-8. Retrieved 2011-04-15.

External links Telegarden homepage Archived 2019-03-02 at the Wayback Machine from Ken Goldberg Ken Goldberg's UC Berkeley homepage Introduction to Telegarden by Ars Electronic (Linz, Austria) Photo Collage and Description from "Database of Virtual Art" (virtualart.at) "Telematic Connections," Curated Piece on the Development of Telepresence from the Walker Art Center "A Performance Space without Geographical Boundaries" (1977) from ecafe.com Muntadas's "File Room" (1994)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telegarden

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telegarden claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telegarden before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telegarden ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telegarden

In research: Telegarden appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telegarden in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telegarden is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2004 disestablishments, Community gardening, Installation art works, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telegarden outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telegarden in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telegarden means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Telegarden out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Telegarden in simple terms?

Why does Telegarden matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telegarden?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telegarden.