- Fraimic is a brand new AI-powered digital canvas that makes use of colour e-ink to show art work and photographs
- It allows you to generate your personal artwork through voice instructions
- The undertaking is now absolutely funded on Kickstarter, and manufacturing is about to start quickly
A brand new sensible, AI-powered e-ink body that allows you to create your personal artwork with voice prompts has simply hit smashed its Kickstarter funding objective.
Known as Fraimic, it allows you to use easy voice instructions to create artwork because of OpenAI’s picture era mannequin. You may also add your personal photographs as a substitute.
Fraimic promises a lot, from up to five years of battery life to no apps and subscriptions – but like any Kickstarter project, there are some caveats to consider. Here’s what you need to know about this opinion-splitting concept.
What is Fraimic and how does it work?
Fraimic is a digital smart canvas that uses color e-ink instead of an LCD or OLED show panel. It’s basically an e-ink body, but it surely’s marketed as a sensible canvas, as the principle objective is to show artwork, and a variety of it may be AI-generated.
The premise is easy: you possibly can select between a small 14×18-inch canvas or a bigger 24×36-inch possibility. Regardless of the dimensions, the canvas actually does look very similar to an precise image body would on a wall.
Touching the nook of Fraimic begins up the voice-to-vision course of. Movies posted on Kickstarter present the undertaking’s founder, Anthony, chatting with the body and giving it a picture era immediate. Should you’ve ever used ChatGPT or DALL-E 3, you already know the kind of immediate that one would possibly use right here.
The entire course of takes slightly time (as you possibly can see above), however slowly, the picture shifts and modifications into AI-generated artwork created on demand. The corporate says that the artwork era is powered by OpenAI and that it will keep away from so-called “AI slop” with “expertly crafted type presets to raise easy prompts into gorgeous, cohesive artistic endeavors.” Should you do not fancy AI art work, you possibly can add your personal photographs and artwork through Fraimic’s web site.
That is one other fascinating tidbit – the undertaking would not have an app, and in keeping with the Kickstarter, it will not have one. In additional excellent news, it additionally will not include a subscription price, and every body is alleged to be a one-time buy.
In contrast to a digital body, Fraimic has a paper-like show, and it isn’t backlit. That ought to create a extra pure, painting-like look, but additionally low visibility in poor lighting circumstances. Fraimic makes use of the Spectra 6 show by E Ink with as much as 65,000 totally different colours.
Fraimic helps native uploads with out using the web and connecting to third-party servers. Nevertheless, there is a trade-off, as you at present cannot swap the image remotely; the gadget you add with and Fraimic have to share the identical community.
The corporate touts really spectacular battery life for the sensible canvas. It is stated to solely ever deplete battery while you’re altering the artwork or the photograph, which is why the standard-sized body has an estimated battery lifetime of as much as 5 years. You need not maintain it plugged in, and reportedly, even as soon as the battery runs out, the image will keep up, and also you simply will not be capable of change it.
Regardless of the dearth of a devoted app, Fraimic’s founder guarantees Dwelling Assistant integration, and its API will probably be open to builders.
How much does Fraimic cost, and how can you buy one?
Fraimic is still just a project on Kickstarter, but it’s more than fully funded. It started out with a goal of $10,000, but at the time of writing, the amount pledged exceeds $730,000.
Pledging in the Kickstarter campaign gets you a frame for less than the expected MSRP. The standard frame will have an MSRP of $399 (about £300 / AU$600), but pledging gets you one for $299 (around £220 / AU$450); meanwhile, large frames will normally cost $999 (about £740 / AU$1,500), but backers get one for $729 (roughly £540 / AU$1,100). There are also packs of frames that cost less than the MSRP.
A few questions remain
As with any Kickstarter project, it’s important to be cautious. Until the product has been produced and shipped, it’s impossible to take it for granted; although it is pretty clear that Fraimic already has an enthusiastic audience, given the amount of money that’s already been pledged.
From a technical standpoint, a few uncertainties remain. Some of the photos presented as Fraimic show frames that are obviously a lot larger, which implies they could be simple mockups at this stage. The claims about battery life could also end up being highly optimistic, especially if AI generation is used, although this is just speculation.
The AI side of it all is another thing. Some people are vehemently against AI art and the way it’s starting to flood the internet; others love it. It’s also easy to end up with low-quality images when prompting the AI in a vague manner, which could contribute to battery drain.
Once complete, Fraimic will ship worldwide (with some exceptions). The company is targeting May 2026 for shipping, but it does note that delays are possible.
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