No matter how your frame it (groan), picture frames are a relic.
You own a few. Your parents own many. They tend to be cheap props, rather generic in shape and clunky enough that you’ll never bother to swap out pics. Those memories are in there forever.
Enter Aura.
Co-founded by Twitter’s former Chief Scientist Abdur Chowdhury, Aura is a “smart” picture frame programmed to automatically display the best pics from your phone.
“I get it— digital picture frames are dead, uninteresting things that we all tried and left on the wayside with fax machines and 8-track tapes. But what if they weren’t?” asks Chowdhury.
On the surface, Aura is an 8×12 acrylic frame that comes in ivory with rose gold trim or black with charcoal trim. You can hang it on wall or use a stand to prop it on a table.
The big idea here is that you’ll never have to think about what great memory you want to see again. Via Wi-Fi, an app and a bunch of sensors, Aura automatically updates and curates your frame’s photo selection.
The frame figures out who you take pictures of the most, and updates the pics on the frame as you take them. And it has tech to avoid potentially terrible/embarrassing memories: nothing that’s badly cropped, low contrast or eyes closed.
And no nudes. Aura has a “sophisticated nudity detection” filter (that also screens out passport or driver’s license photos…or nude passport/driver’s license photos, for that matter).
It’s designed for ease of use: No buttons, no subscription and unlimited photo storage. You can switch photos with a close wave of the hand, and the frame goes to sleep when you leave the room … then changes the photo, so you’ll always have something new to see.
Plus, you can share pics on someone else’s Aura — with permission, of course.
With a 9.7” LED-backlit display with 2048×1536 resolution, your memories should be crystal clear.
The G-rated ones, at least.
Aura is available now for $399.
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