Whenever I see a piece of weird new tech on social media, I immediately become obsessed with it. Just a few weeks ago, I wrote a feature on the kids’ sticker maker Stickerbox, saying I couldn’t wait to get my hands on one. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long.
For those who haven’t seen Stickerbox, it’s a small $99 digital sticker maker from Hapiko that takes your voice prompts and uses generative AI to create a custom image you can print out, color in and stick wherever you want.
To say that Stickerbox lived up to my expectations is underplaying the experience – it unleashed my inner child. My biggest concern going into the hands-on was that the novelty would wear off after 10 minutes. Yet, 45 minutes and 40-something stickers later, I was still going, chuckling at every design it produced from my voice commands.
A fiddly setup, but worthwhile results
Before you can enjoy the fun, there’s the setup process, which wasn’t as straightforward as I’d imagined — but I got there in the end. Stickerbox works over a Wi-Fi connection and, much like how you’d set up one of the best smart speakers, you need to download the accompanying Stickerbox app, which will prompt you to scan the QR code on the device and follow the instructions.
After you’ve selected your Wi-Fi network and entered the password, you’ll need to enter the 6-digit code that pops up on the Stickerbox screen, and here’s where I ran into some issues. There were a few instances where the device would decide to update itself, resulting in it rebooting and taking me back to the QR screen at the start of the setup process. I also ran into glitches during the very last setup steps.
It could have been a case of weak Wi-Fi signal on my end, but based on my experience, it was a little challenging to get started. Even after I completed the setup, I had to reconnect the Stickerbox to my Wi-Fi each time I wanted to use it, though this issue resolved itself after a few uses. With the setup completed, it was time to get stuck in.
One tiny box, a million possibilities
Now that my Stickerbox was ready for action, I suddenly felt the pressures of creativity hit me. What do you say to a sticker maker that can produce pretty much anything? But once I got the ball rolling, I couldn’t stop.
This is first and foremost a kids’ toy, so there are content moderation filters in place to block inappropriate requests. With that in mind, a great way to start is by asking Stickerbox to create images of animals in comical situations. For example, I tried ‘a dolphin drinking coffee with a badger in a coffee shop’, and it produced just that. I then prompted ‘a suave turtle writing a novel’, and I was presented with yet another cute illustration — it even gave the turtle an adorable little bow-tie.
Animals will always make good prompts for your sticker creations, but what about places, people, and even text? Stickerbox can do it all.
As for locations, when you give it a place name, Stickerbox will create an image of that location including its most notable landmarks. Take a look at the cities below, can you guess which one’s which?
From famous places to famous faces, Stickerbox can interpret anything from historical figures to modern-day celebrities, although prompts for the latter don’t always produce the most recognizable results. Ask it to print an image of someone from history, like Henry VIII, William Shakespeare, or Joan of Arc, and it pretty much nails it, but it’s not so spot on with contemporary figures.
When it comes to singers, Stickerbox does better at generating an image if the subject has a distinct look, like David Bowie, Freddy Mercury, or Bob Marley. Other modern public figures, such as Taylor Swift, won’t be as accurate – Stickerbox will produce only a loose interpretation, but you can generally tell who it is – with notable exceptions; Barack Obama was scarily spot-on.
Overall, this is a pretty neat gadget that – thankfully, if you’re looking to keep kids entertained – has enduring novelty. You can even say the same prompt multiple times, and it will generate slightly different images, so I can see why children and adults alike are loving it. As kids’ toys go, it’s one of the most unique offerings out there right now. There’s definitely room for a dedicated adult version with some of the content moderation filters removed, too. I hope Hapiko is listening.
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rowan.davies@futurenet.com (Rowan Davies)
