beepollinated

Beepollinated is a coined term used to describe a method of spreading information or signals across a network or community by emitting sequences of short beeps or chirp-like sounds. The concept borrows the metaphor of pollination: just as pollen is dispersed to reach many flowers, a beepollination process disseminates data to multiple recipients, increasing reach, redundancy, and discovery without requiring continuous direct connections.

In practice, beepollination might refer to signal designs in which devices in range listen for a pattern of beeps that encodes identity, capabilities, or keys. A central broadcaster can emit a short beep sequence; nearby devices decode it and participate in a shared protocol such as neighbor discovery, task handoff, or token distribution. The efficiency and robustness of beepollination depend on beep rate, duration, spectral content, and ambient noise. Beep sequences can be designed to be audible to humans or inaudible (ultrasonic) to minimize distraction, depending on the application.

Origin and reception: The term appears in hobbyist and academic discussions of low-bandwidth signaling and acoustic communications and has since found use in creative coding and sound art to describe how motifs propagate through participants in a project.

Etymology: a portmanteau of beep and pollination.

See also: pollination, chirp spread spectrum, acoustic communication, beacon, neighbor discovery.