Hands On With Stickerbox, The Ai-powered Sticker Maker For Kids

There’s a caller AI-powered artifact for kids called Stickerbox, and, earlier you groan, I’m present to study that it’s amazingly fun.

Stickerbox, a merchandise calved retired of Brooklyn-based startup Hapiko, is simply a voice-activated sticker printer. The instrumentality takes immoderate imaginative thought you person successful your caput and transforms it into a printed sticker that you tin past color, peel, and instrumentality anywhere.

Before trying nan instrumentality itself, I person to admit I came pinch a preconceived antagonistic bias — arsenic did my chap tester (my daughter). Our first reactions were similiar: “An AI that prints stickers? I’d alternatively creation and people my own.”

After trying nan reappraisal portion sent by nan company, we were won over.

Stickerbox, I realized, could correspond a caller shape of imaginative play — and 1 that doesn’t outsource nan child’s imagination to an AI exemplary arsenic overmuch arsenic you’d think.

Image Credits:TechCrunch

Testing nan AI sticker printer

The $99.99 artifact itself is simply a small, agleam reddish container pinch a black-and-white surface and a big, achromatic “push-to-talk” fastener connected top. It ships pinch 3 rolls of paper, which equates to 180 stickers, arsenic good arsenic a powerfulness cord and colored pencils.

The box’s colour strategy is reminiscent of nan Etch A Sketch, which makes sense, fixed that nan Stickerbox feels for illustration a modern rotation connected that concept. In nan Etch A Sketch’s case, you person to study really to power different knobs to create nan image successful your mind. With Stickerbox, those “knobs” are replaced pinch thing much abstract: nan sound commands you usage to punctual nan AI model.

Kids aren’t reasoning astir really to beryllium amended punctual engineers, of course; they’re conscionable exploring their imagination and having nosy seeing their ideas travel to life. Any betterment successful their prompting abilities is simply a broadside effect.

To initially group up nan device, a genitor will request to help. Much for illustration adding a smart speaker to your home’s Wi-Fi, you person to first link to nan Stickerbox’s Wi-Fi, past participate nan accusation to link pinch your location network. The setup process, which only took a minute, went disconnected without a hitch.

Image Credits:Stickerbox

Using Stickerbox is simple. You push nan button, picture an image retired loud, past merchandise nan fastener to spot your matter look connected screen, followed by an AI-generated image arsenic nan printer spits retired a beingness copy.

There’s a serendipity to an acquisition successful which you’re reasoning of an thought and past holding it successful your manus successful a matter of seconds.

The device’s thermal image printer requires nary ink, and nan insubstantial is BPS and BPA-free, making it safe to use.

The printed sticker is easy to tear disconnected and past tin beryllium colored successful pinch nan colored pencils that travel pinch nan device. Your ain crayons and markers besides work. This combines nan somewhat dopamine-driven acquisition of reasoning up caller things to people pinch nan much calming aliases meditative aspects that travel pinch coloring, akin to giving kids a coloring book.

This ended up offering a patient equilibrium betwixt utilizing perchance addictive tech and past slowing down to prosecute successful a real-world activity. It besides helped to reside imaginable boredom.

Image Credits:TechCrunch

The much you usage nan Sitckerbox, nan much you recognize really analyzable your prompts tin be. You don’t conscionable person to inquire for a basal image, for illustration a “magical unicorn,” you tin speak to nan Stickerbox pinch long, train-of-thought commands, and nan AI parses what you mean. (This is peculiarly useful fixed that kids don’t thin to explicate things successful a straightforward fashion.)

Making “AI for Kids”

Hapiko, nan institution down Stickerbox, was founded this twelvemonth by CEO Arun Gupta and CTO Robert (Bob)Whitney. The brace primitively met while moving astatine nan e-commerce marketplace Grailed, wherever Whitney was head of engineering and Gupta was CEO. (The institution sold to GOAT Group successful 2022.)

Before Grailed, Gupta founded and launched nan Y Combinator-backed hardware sleep locator WakeMate.

Stickerbox co-founders Arun Gupta (CEO) and Bob Whitney (CTO)Image Credits:Stickerbox

Whitney, meanwhile, had worked arsenic nan head of engineering astatine The New York Times’ Games division, arsenic nan patient pivoted from offering conscionable crosswords to becoming a full-fledged gaming app, acquiring Wordle and launching different games for illustration Connections and Strads. While that acquisition taught him a batch astir what makes a awesome consumer-facing product, his later stint astatine Anthropic gave him a first-hand look astatine nan advances successful AI technology.

However, it was his acquisition arsenic a begetter that inspired Stickerbox.

When his boy asked for a coloring page he didn’t person connected hand, he turned to ChatGPT to make a printable image.

“I made it for him — a tiger eating crystal cream. And he had ne'er seen a printer before. I sewage retired from nether nan bed, our HP relative printer — virtually dusted it disconnected and printed it for him, and he ran disconnected happily and started coloring it,” explained Whitney. “But, a infinitesimal later, nan gears were turning, and he came backmost to me, and he was like, ‘I want a peep riding a skateboard.’ And I was like, okay, cool, fto maine make that for you.”

His boy was truthful thrilled pinch nan process of being capable to opportunity thing and spot it travel to life that he realized location could beryllium thing to this.

“I conscionable saw this look connected his look of magic — for illustration axenic magic,” noted Whitney.

The co-founders were besides reasoning astir really AI exertion offered truthful galore caller experiences, but astir weren’t made for kids.

“Nobody’s building AI specifically for kids. So that’s what we’re looking for,” said Gupta. “What are nan correct guardrails? What are nan correct ways? What are nan correct products?”

They realized that kids person awesome imaginations, perfect for moving pinch an AI image model.

“[They have] endless imagination and productivity … they’re learning caller things each day. Every week, they’ve sewage a caller obsession. We’re virtually nan first group successful nan world, I think, to put an image exemplary wrong of a box,” Gupta said.

Built for Updates

Under nan hood, Stickerbox really uses a operation of AI models, including its ain proprietary tech focused connected making nan instrumentality kid-safe. It won’t respond to requests for harmful content, for illustration unit aliases intersexual imagery, and it filters retired committedness words. And if you effort a somewhat much innocuous command, for illustration “boobs,” it conscionable prints a random sticker that whitethorn beryllium vaguely related to nan word. (For instance, you mightiness get a generic animation girl, but not a large-chested one.)

After trying and failing to get a naughty result, astir kids will apt spell backmost to conscionable prompting nan instrumentality for silly images instead.

“We want to beryllium nan trusted marque for parents wherever you don’t person to look complete your kid’s enarthrosis and beryllium like, ‘what are they doing? How are they utilizing this?,” said Gupta.

For now, nan institution generates immoderate gross from nan instrumentality sales, but it keeps nan costs of restocking insubstantial low. It’s conscionable $5.99 for 3 rolls, which equates to 180 stickers. (It’s presently moving a promotion that offers six rolls pinch each acquisition now.)

Over time, nan squad plans to research adding premium features, including a measurement to upload your ain image to ideate yourself successful awesome scenarios aliases collaboration tools.

As a Wi-Fi-connected device, nan Stickerbox is regularly updated pinch caller firmware and features. In tests, for instance, we were capable to people immoderate recognizable characters, but a much caller update added caller guardrails to guideline kids toward much original designs.

A soon-to-launch companion app besides lets you position past creations and prevention favorites, and could yet service arsenic nan location for premium features.

Stickerbox is backed by $7 million successful backing from Maveron, Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, nan Allen Institute’s AI2 incubator, and various angels, including Matt Brezina, and merchandise leaders from different user apps.