"It started with my
mother-in-law," said Thijs Suijten, a developer from the Netherlands.
"She's sick, and unable to get out of bed."
Suijten was frustrated by the fact that, in
order to share photos of his daughter with his mother-in-law, he had to print
the photos out himself or bring an iPad to the older woman's bedside.
His mother-in-law didn't know how to use a computer or tablet on her own, but
he still wanted her to feel a part of his family's life. "I was just
looking for an easy way to share photos with her, the same way I share photos
on Facebook," he said.
IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT THE DEVICE ITSELF WAS
EASY AS POSSIBLE
That's how the idea for Famatic, an
intentionally oversimplified tablet-slash-picture frame, was born. Formally
unveiled on Kickstarter this week, the goal is to make photo-sharing with
grandparents (or anyone technology averse, or who finds technology difficult to
use) as easy and frictionless as possible. Using Famatic is simple: Photo
creators beam photos directly from an app on their phones into the cloud, or
sync Famatic with their Instagram or Facebook. Those photos automatically
populate a picture frame kept in a living room for Grandma and Grandpa to
enjoy. Then, they can select from a palette of pre-programmed comments to
leave--no actual typing necessary--like "fun!" or
"congratulations!"
It addresses a generational divide that
often gets lost in the conversation about tech. On one hand, you have a younger
generation so intuitively connected to technology that it's hard to imagine
life without it. Whereas for some members of the elder generation, something as
ubiquitous as Facebook might as well be written in a foreign language. The idea
being that Famatic is to make your loved ones feel connected to your
life--without overwhelming them with a steep learning curve.
Suijten says he was surprised when he
surveyed the landscape two years ago, only to find that a bare-bones piece of
hardware didn't exist. "When you turn it on, it just starts," said
Suijten. "There's no app to launch. No difficult settings. It starts just
like a digital photo frame."
If successfully funded--right now, the
Kickstarter sits at $15,000 of its $75,000 fundraising goal--Famatic's big hope
is to close that glaring rift, and bring the two generations closer using the
very thing dividing them: Technology. If all proceeds according to plan, the
frame will be available to purchase for around $200. "It was important
that the device itself was easy as possible," added Suijten. "That's
the beauty of this."
[Image courtesy of Famatic]
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