If you know a "tween" (or older) female who's into custom-decorating her nails with artwork, Preemadonna's just-launched Indiegogo campaign for the $199 Nailbot will likely be of great interest. Company co-founders Pree Walia (CEO) and Casey Schulz (Head of Product) gave a fabulous presentation at September's Embedded Vision Alliance Member Meeting. As you can see from the following photo, Casey came well prepared (check out the thumb):
The company's premier product leverages the rear camera of select Android and iOS smartphones (connected to the Nailbot hardware via Bluetooth), along with Hewlett-Packard's thermal inkjet technology. After first preparing the nails with a white base coat, along with a pre-print coat, you use the company's app to select the artwork to be printed. Next, put your finger in the Nailbot's cradle so that your nail can be visually scanned for accurate art placement. Then press "print" in the app, and in less than five seconds, the artwork will appear on your nail. Seal the image with a top-coat finish, and you're done! It’s a fun and innovative use of embedded vision.
Here's a demo video of Nailbot in action, from Preemadonna's YouTube channel:
You can also see a video of the company's pitch at Disrupt San Francisco 2015, hosted on TechCrunch's website.
Several funding levels are available on the crowdfunding campaign; as this article was being written, only the "Pioneer Preemadonna" option was fully claimed (and the campaign was scheduled to end in less than a month, so don't delay!). Initial product shipments are scheduled to begin late next year.
