Made with metal, plastic, and various electronics
Teresa Jiang and I made this camera in fall of 2024 for 4.031 [Design of Objects and Interaction], taught by Marcelo Coelho. It sits somewhere between Dance Dance Revolution and the thermal receipt printers you see at stores and restaurants. Before further explanation, first see it in action:
Essentially, this instant camera imbues the process of taking and printing photos with more joy and playfulness. It's so easy nowadays to just snap a quick picture with your phone; thus, we were inspired by the ethos behind the rise of digital cameras and instant film cameras to create something that reimagines that process and makes it more meaningful.
Side view with buttons visible
Front view with the printer cover off, for refilling paper
When the user presses the big white start button, the camera will take a photo of them and initiate a game. The user then grabs onto the two handles in the front and presses the buttons on them in sync with the flashing lights on top of the camera (like a game of Dance Dance Revolution!). At the end, the camera will print out their photo—however, the quality of the photo depends on how well the user performed in the game. Thus, the process, play, and effort involved with generating the photo is encoded in the resulting object, which the user can then tear away and take with them as a memento.
These are some sample printed photos, with varying levels of quality:
My hand!
Different levels of scrambled-ness
Many photos of the same scene
The scene in question
We went through many prototypes, trying out different materials, form factors, and modes of interaction. Here is some documentation from that process:
CAD Screenshot
Testing press fits and tolerances
Electronics (with the cover off)
Using a hydraulic press to shape the triangular handles
