Sep 22, 2014 | By Alec
Virtually everyone will agree that sharing photos with your friends and families has never been easier. Facebook, smartphones and just 'the internet' are allowing everyone to easily show off countless photos of pets and holiday destinations with the simple click of a button or the swipe of a finger. While a wonderful convenience, most people will also recognize that there a few downsides to the digitalization of our photo albums. For one, it sometimes results in the broadcasting of certain unflattering or private photographs. But it is also readily undermining the 'special place' photographs used to occupy on people's walls, nightstands and so on.
Fortunately, two guys from Baltimore have come up with UpLocket: an ingenious little creation that returns that special status to certain photographs, while not sabotaging the convenience of digital sharing. Their solution? A locket, but not just a regular, old-fashioned locket with a photograph stuffed in its insides. Instead, Todd Blatt and Ben Howarth have given that traditional piece of jewelry a very cool and completely modern twist.
Their UpLockets all feature a fun, futuristic design made in AutoCAD and MeshMixer, and will be printed using laser sintering technology. They have come up with multiple colorful designs themselves, but who knows what will be possible in the future.
More impressively, they have even improved on usual digital sharing techniques! Rather than having to pass your phone (and thus your privacy) around, you can simply hold an UpLocket up against someone's smartphone and the photo of your choosing is immediately uploaded to their screens without any additional software required. To realize this cool little accessory, they have just started a Kickstarter to raise a modest $5000. Be sure to check it out.
How does the UpLocket work, you wonder? Well, it's neither magic nor brand-new technology. Rather than an unflattering photo, each of their UpLockets simply contains a minute NFC tag. While that might sound new, it isn't. 'If you've ever used a security keychain fob to unlock the door to your apartment building or parking garage, you've used NFC tech', the guys remind us. 'The technology is pretty cool. A small, chip, with an antenna and no battery, which takes up a minimal amount of space. The power comes from nearby compatible electronic devices, which on their own are already producing small magnetic fields (in the way that electronic devices tend to do). This field, when close enough to our little chip, is enough to create a current in the antenna, just powerful enough to activate the chip and allow it to send it's signal.'
The idea is that you can send the guys a link to the photos of your choosing, and they will program your NFC tag to send a message to a nearby phone containing a self-opening link to the URL. The target phone will therefore an internet connection, but Wi-Fi is almost universal nowadays anyway.
The NFC tags.
While they are initially focussing on photographs, UpLocket's potential is far greater than that. 'NFC technology is highly customizable, and can do whatever you want. You can set it to a URL of a photo, YouTube video, photo album or anything else you like! Rather than link directly to a specific photo or album, it can link to a random choice of selected images. It can be used to give someone your contact information. To make a stranger's phone play your favourite song… A song about how you're never going to give them up. Or let them down...' This cool little device's possibilities are almost endless. It gave rise to their wonderful catchphrase: 'If you can Upload it, you can UpLocket.'
Sadly, UpLocket is still in the fundraising phase, so there are still bumps in the road to this wonderful little accessory. Production and delivery are stages that will have to be streamlined by experience, but to their credit Blatt and Howarth are really thinking of everything. They have done extensive testing with the NFC tag and have settled on the most reliable and durable chip they could find. For production of the 3D printed casing, they will be relying on Shapeways rather than printing them themselves. Blatt, however, has years of experience with 3D printing software and Shapeways, and they seem confident in meeting any demands for their product.
There's just one small caveat: Not all phones are compatible with this technology. Especially iPhones are problematic, as all older models that precede the latest iPhone 6 series do not support NFC. And even the iPhone 6 isn't yet open to UpLocket and other NFC sources. Android users are therefore the main audience for the Uplocket, but as the guys remind us: 'Remember, UpLocket is used for sharing to your friends and family's phones, in addition to your own, so it's not so crucial that your own personal phone supports it.'
The list of all phones which support NFC can be found here.
Despite these bumps, the UpLocket really is a wonderful, cool and meaningful accessory. Not only does it ingeniously combine technology and 3D printing, it above all gives some of that specialness back to photography.
The guys behind it combine some excellent skills and experience, that will hopefully propel this project to success. Howarth is a project manager and biologist, while mechanical engineer Todd Blatt has been working with 3D software since 1997 (starting with video games). He has been producing and selling 3D jewellery since 2010 through his Custom 3D Stuff. Since then, he has successfully launched various 3D accessories.
Also be sure to check out this video on Kickstarter webpage:
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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