Heard of Smart Trees? A Norton Shores Man Has Invented Them

Have you ever heard of "Smart Trees?" A West Michigan inventor has found a new use for trees without having to cut them down.

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Do Trees Have Brains?

Trees are alive but unlike humans and animals, there are no brains or organs that function but they provide lots of amazing things for humanity.

Logs from trees provide heat for homes, lumber to build, a variety of paper products, sandwich bags, dye, scented oils, and even hard hats. There are so many things that are made from trees that it would take a whole day to write down all the products. There is one other thing that trees do for humans and all living things, and that is help provide clean air for us all to breathe by storing carbon dioxide and purifying our air.

What is a Smart Tree?

A smart tree is a tree that has an NFC (Near Field Communication) chip in it that provides information. The idea is, the tree can be used to store information like a map, important documents, and information about the tree. It is brand new technology and the sky is the limit on all the uses that could be done with trees and technology.

Who Invented the Smart Tree?

His name is Ricky LaFever and he lives in Norton Shores, Mich. He has been an inventor since he was a young boy. He gets an idea, then attempts to do something with it because he loves using his mind to create.

According to FOX 17, LaFever had a dream one night where he used his phone to scan a tree and when he woke up he thought, "I can do that."

LaFever has a total of six trees that he has stuff stored in. It is a very new technology with limitless possibilities.

I think this would be a great idea to use in an area that has all kinds of different trees here in Michigan to teach people the names and information about the trees. This would be a cool way to do a scavenger hunt, and mark trails in the woods with maps. This idea could be used for other objects like museums, statues, or monuments.

FOX 17 reported that LaFever's smart tree technology is called ReTreeve and that he wants to pitch the idea to local parks and recreation departments.

You can learn more about LaFever and his smart trees in the video above.