Crowd-funded Star-up Creates Hybrid Of Digital Signage And Networked Art

July 21, 2014 by Dave Haynes

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A Japanese company has launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for networked screens designed to run artwork in offices, homes and other spaces.

Called FRAMED, the project is billed as  is the world’s first canvas for digital art.

Except these guys announced their’s a few weeks ago.

Anyway, what this new project does in interesting.

Available in 24-inch and 40-inch models, each frame displays 16.7 million colors from a 180° viewing angle. A classic design with a wooden finish, plus additional options for custom colors, means FRAMED fits perfectly into any environment. You can interact with the device using simple hand gestures, a fluid system that allows for an effortless user experience. A free smartphone app also connects the device to your mobile and allows you to browse images on the web, sending them to your device with the swipe of a finger. This immersive and interactive experience brings digital art into everyday life.

The wealth of artwork on the Internet means FRAMED can be enjoyed by art novices and more experienced visual artists alike. The device supports most media types including GIF animation, video, graphics, openFrameworks, Flash and Processing. Aspiring artists are encouraged to share their own creations, curate a selection of their favorite artists and get their ideas framed on walls around the world. FRM has worked with a number of prolific artists including Aaron Koblin and Universal Everything to bring you digital artwork specifically designed for FRAMED. The diversity of art available means FRAMED works for every occasion.

FRM Co-Founder and Creative Director Yugo Nakamura explains: “As designers ourselves, we couldn’t be more excited to create a marketplace where artists can freely publish and sell their work. The evolution of technology and accessibility of the Internet has brought out a wonderful range of digital art, and now we have an innovative way of sharing that art, and presenting it in way that pays respect to the artists that created them. We’re very excited to be sharing this idea with the Kickstarter community and gaining their feedback, as well as opening digital art to the every day consumer.”

FRAMED Features

·       Supports unlimited media types: photography, graphics and illustration, GIF animation, video, Flash, Processing, and openFrameworks

·       Powered with the same graphics libraries supported in modern-day web browsers: OpenGL, WebGL, DirextX, Java 3D, and Three.js

·       Create interactive works using motion, sound, gestures and various data inputs from third-party applications or services

·       Instantly display artworks from anywhere in the room, directly from your iPhone or Android smartphone

Online marketplace for artists to publish and sell their artwork on FRAMED

Specifications

·       Dimensions: 24-inch (553 Height x 321 Width x 18 Depth)

·       Dimensions: 40-inch (976 Height x 550 Width x 29 Depth)

·       Weight: 5lbs (2.3kg), 22lbs (10kg)

·       Full-HD 1080p IPS display

·       16.7 million colors

·       Quad-core CPU up to 2.4 GHz

Interactivity & I/O

·       Smartphone integration

·       Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

·       Motion sensors

·       Gesture recognition

·       720p camera

·       2x stereo speaker outputs

framed

I assumed these puppies ran on Android or some other open source Linux script, but they in fact run some flavor of Windows, I’m told.

I like the sleek walnut enclosure design, which alone would be appealing for some venue operators. Video is supported.

Is this digital signage – well, sure, I suppose. Though it is not the intent. But I was the marketing manager for the National Gallery of Canada, making a channel available that included references and details on a special exhibition would make a bunch of sense in trying to drive foot traffic.

I also like the smartphone integration and some of the interactivity, though why I’d want fiddly, fussy gesture when a toggle button or a remote on the mobile app would do the business.

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