[qplex]

How are the geodesic domes supposed to help in comparison to regular greenhouses?

Commercial orchids and greenhouses already grow vanilla and plenty of other stuff in automated hydroponic and aeroponic systems

I fail to see what is so special about this.

[Valgrim]

To be fair the author did talk to another unbiased source than the inventor-businessman. He contacted agricultural scientist Dr. John Troughton, visited the greenhouse with him and asked his opinion on the subject. He asked very specific questions to the author about the advantages of his design (vertical rotating soil-filled trellises). He was transparent about the production costs, the business model of the inventor and the yet-to-be-flowered vines.

The problem I see is that the headline is definitely click-baity compared to the article. The author doesn't particularly emphasize the use of a smartphone app, the shape of the greenhouse or the value of the beans (600 000 is much more theorical in the article than in the title), so I'm thinking the title was written by someone else.