In rustle your leaves to me softly: an ASMR plant dating simulator, players form a relationship with one or more plants by touching and stroking them and listening to the ASMR soundscape feedback that is generated by their actions. The plant responds to the player’s touch by playing soothing sounds and plant-related words and poetry. Each plant has a different personality and preferences, determined by their physical properties, which players are invited to gently explore.

The concept behind the game came out of speculation around designing for an “other” that cannot communicate with us in the ways that we are used to. The soundscape elements that the plant generates were created based on what we as designers thought a plant might understand a human to like, which is in turn based on our understanding of what plants might like and what they might think of humans.

rustle your leaves to me softly was an official selection of the 2018 Hexagram Campus exhibit at Ars Electronica, and was showcased in Linz, Austria, from September 5th – 11th 2018.