reFrame is an experimental camera with a color ePaper display. Designed to capture and display one photo at a time, making every frame deliberate and memorable.
reFrame's ePaper display has six pigments, so photos are dithered before they display on the screen.
The dithered photos look somewhere between a newspaper halftone and an old video game. The processing is part of the fun: you watch the colors come in one by one, like a digital polaroid.
After you press the shutter, each photo takes 15 seconds to fully appear. The display uses electrical charges to physically move ink particles into place.
With ePaper, the photo on screen stays there even after powering off. The only way to clear the screen is to take a new photo.
When not in use, reFrame doubles as a desk photo frame. Your last photo stays on screen, and the processing gives each image a unique, almost print-like quality.
reFrame is currently in development as an open-source project, with hardware and software planned for release in the coming months.
who's making this?
reFrame is a passion project by Kaloyan Kolev and friends.
how can i buy one?
the camera is still in the prototype phase and not for sale yet! i
hope to start taking individual orders in the near future.
what's inside?
a Raspberry Pi + Pi Camera 3, a 4in eInk Spectra 6 color display and a
battery. the open source version intentionally uses only off-the-shelf components so everyone can
build their own.
do the photos get saved?
yes! images are saved digitally. While the ePaper display
remains the primary way to experience each shot, you can also download both the original and dithered versions
of
each photo using a web dashboard.
how did this get started?
reFrame started as a thesis prototype at Yale under the name
eink.cam!
