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A peculiar lunch-box sized device called Instaprint popped up at insider events from the Grammy Awards to South by Southwest last year — spitting out Instagram photos into the physical world. Now its creators are working on bringing the box to the masses.
"Holding a physical photo in your hand is something that's been lost over the last years," explains Michael Lipton, the co-founder of Breakfast, the four-person agency that created Instaprint. "Nobody probably wants a shoebox of 1,000 of these things, but if they're at party and can walk away with one, then it's a nice keepsake."
Breakfast calls itself a "physical-digital interactive agency." You may be familiar with some of its projects: It built the blimp for Conan O'brien that automatically checked into Foursquare venues as it floated over them and a tweeting bike for Livestrong. As a side project, Instaprint fit with Breakfast's agenda perfectly.
The wall-hanging box prints Instagram photos from events as they're posted. It finds photos using the event's hashtag, includes likes and comments when it prints, and uploads the collection to a website for browsing later.
It has a similar effect to handing out disposable cameras at a wedding — everyone takes photos, but they get pooled in one place. Meanwhile, guests walk away with a physical artifact.
Sound like something you'd like to have at your next party? Probably not yet. Breakfast only made about a dozen prototypes, and they're not exactly self-serve. Renting a device, complete with staff member to keep it running, starts at $5,000 — a lot of money to drop on a novelty photo printer if you're not on a corporate marketing budget.
Breakfast hopes that, with some tinkering, it can bring the price tag on Instaprint down to about $399. But it needs $500,000 to turn its prototype into an DIY kit, a process that involves updating and redesigning 100 parts. It's taking a stab at collecting funds — and gauging interest — on Kickstarter. So far, it's raised about $40,000.
If the funding comes through, the company plans to be shipping Instaprints by late summer. Each device will be powered by a mini Linux computer, easy to set up through wireless internet and will be inkless (the color comes from the photo paper).
Would you buy one? Let us know in the comments.
BONUS: The Best Instagram Photos Ever Taken [PICS]
1. Maura Grace (@folkfibers)
Josh Riedel: "I love the way you can travel through photos. Maura (@folkfibers) travels the USA in her VW van, and her photos take you along for the ride. I like to imagine Maura pulling to the side of the road and leaning out her window to snap this shot as she's leaving the park."
Click here to view this gallery.
More About: instagram, instaprint, photography, trending
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