On talking trees

Nearly every culture has stories about trees that talk, some of which are thousands of years old. These talking trees, which are part of mythology, fairytales and films, could be regarded as relatives of the Connected Tree. But there is one distinction: the Ericsson Connected Tree, which made its debut in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress 2010, is a real tree that feels when people touch it and move around it, and responds. One feature is that it talks to its visitors when it senses activity. In essence, a talking tree is no longer the stuff of imagination, it’s real.

Talking trees in mythology:

• The Indian Tree of the Sun and the Moon could tell the future. During the day, the tree spoke as a male, and at night it spoke as a female.
• Oracular Trees are sometimes able to speak to certain individuals, such as Druids. To what extent these trees could talk varies in every story.
• In Ireland, a tree may help you look for a leprechaun's gold, but it doesn’t usually know where the gold is located.