This plug-and-play frame is perfect for grandparents who just want a frame that works without any hassle.
Long before the age of social media, emails and smartphones, photographs used to have a special place inside our homes. We took the time to capture precious moments, have those images developed, frame them and eventually display them proudly on tables, shelves and along the mantel. But what about the older generation? Why should they not be able to stay up-to-date with their loved ones as they experience some of life’s most joyous occasions? That’s what one group of Harvard Business School students have set out to solve.
Skylight is a touch-enabled, Wi-Fi-connected photo frame that allows users to simply email pictures from their phone or computer directly onto a loved one’s device — from anywhere in the world.
How it works is relatively easy. A user snaps a photo and sends it to a uniquely assigned Skylight email address. The photo then suddenly appears on the frame in real-time. As soon as photos are added to Skylight, they are automatically resized to fit in the 7-inch, high-quality display. The 1024×600 LED screen will showcase the snapshots in a 1.7:1 aspect ratio, while photos will also be rotated to their proper orientation automatically. The frame supports a wide range of file types, including JPEG, JPG, BMP, PNG and GIF.
Not only is it super simple to share images, the out-of-the-box ready device connects to Wi-Fi in less than 60 seconds via its touchscreen interface. In fact, Skylight was designed with parents and grandparents in mind, especially those who just want a frame that works without any hassle. The team adds, “After you turn it on, it automatically detects available Wi-Fi networks, and the touchscreen makes it easy to connect to the one of your choice. From there, Skylight will display any photos you send to it in a chronological slideshow.”
Beyond that, the frame owner will receive a notification whenever new photos are sent, and with a mere touch of the screen, can view them. If a loved one wants to show how much they enjoyed a particular picture, they just tap an accompanying heart button and Skylight relays an email back to the original sending letting them know.
“Digital frames tried to solve this, but have always come up short. They’re complicated to use, and what’s worse, no one ever updates them since they require a USB or memory card to add photos. The photos you want to share are on your phone or laptop, not a USB,” the team adds.
Sound like something your family would like to have? Hurry over to Skylight’s official Kickstarter campaign, where the team is currently seeking $30,000. Pending all goes to plan, shipment is slated for August 2015 — just in time to capture those back-to-school memories!
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 