SHMN Pandora • Soon on Kickstarter

A smart lid that turns any jar
into a living ecosystem.

SHMN Pandora hides light, mist, airflow, sensors, a tiny camera and an AI assistant inside a single minimal cylinder. Twist it onto a jar, add a bit of soil and life - and your shelf becomes home to a self-tending micro-biome you can watch evolve from your phone.

Get notified How it works

SHMN Pandora smart terrarium lid on a jar

SHMN Nature Design

Pandora is our smart terrarium lid that turns ordinary jars into autonomous miniature ecosystems. Built around a matte-black aluminium body and a modular adapter ring system, it fits everyday pantry jars as easily as future premium glass we're designing with manufacturing partners.

Inside the lid are a warm-white COB grow light, a micro-fogger, a silent fan and environmental sensors, all orchestrated by an onboard controller with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy. A downward-facing camera lets you monitor growth, generate timelapses and talk to Pandora, the built-in AI assistant that can identify what's inside and suggest care profiles for different biomes.

Three SHMN Pandora jars with different biotopes

Jar-agnostic by design

A single Pandora lid works with multiple jar standards using swappable adapter rings - from European TO82/TO100 to US Mason regular and wide mouth.

Climate, simplified

Light, micro-fog, airflow and sensors work together to keep humidity, air exchange and temperature where mosses, terrarium plants or tiny inhabitants can thrive.

A tiny world with a mind

With a built-in camera and AI assistant, Pandora lets you monitor growth, create timelapses, identify plants and tune conditions with simple, natural-language requests.

From empty jar to living micro-biome in minutes.

Pandora is intentionally simple. No hoses snaking through the glass, no visible hardware cluttering the view, no complicated setup. Just twist it on, add life and let the lid handle the invisible work.

1
Pick a jar you love.
Use an ordinary pantry jar or one of our upcoming premium glass designs. Snap the right adapter ring onto Pandora and screw it on like a normal lid.
2
Build your tiny world.
Add drainage, substrate, hardscape, plants and - if you like - microfauna. Fill the reservoir in the lid, plug in USB-C power and choose a preset (tropical, arid, paludarium, nocturnal, …) from the app.
3
Watch it take care of itself.
Pandora cycles light, fog and airflow through the day, keeps humidity within range and lets you peek in remotely. Ask the AI assistant to fine-tune conditions, generate timelapses or simply enjoy the view.

Built for plant people, collectors and everyone who wants a little wildness on their desk.

Pandora is as comfortable next to a limited-edition print as it is on a windowsill. Use it as a low-maintenance terrarium, a living sculpture in your living room or a carefully controlled micro-biome for your favourite tiny inhabitants.

For terrarium lovers

Dial in humidity and light for moss, ferns or rare tropicals. Use the camera and AI to track growth, compare setups and share timelapse builds.

For interiors & workspaces

Place a self-contained forest on a shelf or reception desk that quietly tends itself. No schedule, no guilt - just a calm, living object that always looks curated.

For curious minds

Keep isopods, micro-millipedes or tiny jumping spiders in a stable, observable environment - ideal for kids, classrooms and anyone who loves watching small worlds.

Early tech specs

Pandora is still evolving, but this is the direction for the first production run.

Body: CNC-machined aluminium, matte black anodized, with a bayonet interface for adapter rings and a sealed underside for electronics.
Light: ~5 W warm-white COB LED with high CRI, tuned for plant growth and natural colour rendering.
Climate: Micro-fogger, low-noise fan and sensors for temperature and humidity, controlled by an onboard microcontroller with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy.
Camera: Downward-facing camera module for stills, timelapses and AI-assisted plant and species recognition via Pandora.
Power: USB-C input, optimised around a safe 5 V supply for use with glass, water and living organisms.
Jar compatibility: Swappable adapters for TO82 / TO100 and US Mason regular / wide mouth in the first release, with more standards planned.

Lineup of SHMN Pandora lids on different jar sizes

Where we are - and what happens next.

SHMN started as an obsession: bring nature closer using technology that stays mostly invisible. The objects you see here are based on real CAD work, and we're now deep in electronics, firmware and long-term terrarium testing.

Now

Finalising industrial design, electronics architecture and 3D-printed prototypes of Pandora and its adapter system.

Build and test fully working units, run long-term terrarium and invert trials, refine the control app and Pandora’s AI behaviours.

Launch

Open pre-orders via Kickstarter for a small first production run, ship to early adopters and then explore wider retail partnerships.

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A smart lid that turns any jarinto a living ecosystem.