Watch: Houseplant controls machete with robotic arm in terrifying experiment

Screengrab from video tweeted by @canneo2103145

Footage of a live plant controlling a machete with the help of robotic arm has gone massively viral online, racking up more than 10 million views on Twitter. The machete-wielding houseplant is the brainchild of robotics artist David Bowen.

For his strange experiment, Bowen installed a houseplant on a wall and gave it a robotic arm with a machete.

According to Design Boom, which first reported on the ‘Plant Machete’ installation, the system receives electrical signals from the philodendron plant using a microcontroller connected to the plant. More specifically, it reads varying resistance signals across the plant’s leaves. Custom technology then translates the electrical signals into real-time motion.

Living plant controls a machete through an industrial robot arm pic.twitter.com/jQYzMzoG0W

— Canneo (@canneo2103145) October 4, 2022

"Plant machete has a control system that reads and utilizes the electrical noises found in a live philodendron," Bowen explained.

On his website, Bowen wrote: “Using custom software, these signals are mapped in real-time to the movements of the joints of the industrial robot holding a machete.

“In this way, the movements of the machete are determined based on input from the plant.

“Essentially the plant is the brain of the robot controlling the machete determining how it swings, jabs, slices and interacts in space.”

Footage of his experiment has left the internet amazed. Take a look at some of the reactions it has received:

So the plant isn’t aware it’s doing this? it’s just software interpreting already occurring electrical signals to inputs right — kenobi (@outtaserotonin) October 4, 2022

Totally opposite for me! I’m picturing being attacked by plants lol.

— Bubby (@Bubby35) October 4, 2022

reminds me of this comic pic.twitter.com/7efoFEyw1p — J55 (goblin) (@the_j55) October 4, 2022

While the experiment is terrifying at many levels, it is important to note that there is no evidence that the plant is controlling the robotic arm in any meaningful way.

“In reality, signals from the plant are probably acting more as a random number generator to steer the robotic arm,” a report in Futurism noted.