"Dad, Could You Put the Giraffe On?”

My oldest daughter often texts me when she wants something.  Usually it’s for predictable things: permission, food, or clothing.  But last week she had a surprise request.  She texted me to ask me to change the artwork in my kitchen.My daughter wasn’t referring to a static piece of art.  Rather, she was referring to Electric Objects.What is Electric Objects?  If you haven’t heard about it yet, Electric Objects builds a framed high-definition screen that brings artwork from the Internet into your home.  The screen is integrated with a smartphone app that allows you to control what’s shown on the display.Here’s their device in my kitchen (displaying a GIF of a TV set playing Pong):I’ve learned that the presentation of digital art matters a lot.  When it looks like a framed piece of art - rather than a computer peripheral - it invites social interaction.  Almost everyone who’s wandered into my kitchen has asked me about it.  What’s been more surprising is that the engagement has been sustained.  My family and friends keep asking me to show new pieces of art.Unlike most Internet-connected hardware devices, Electric Objects actively draws viewers into social interaction.  Great hardware products invite and sustain daily engagement, just like great consumer software companies.The iOS app that controls the display only hints at the social power of the screen.  Currently, I can look at a feed of what other Electric Objects owners recently displayed on their own screens (and repost those artworks on my own screen), and I can look at a history of what I’ve displayed so that I can easily display prior artworks.  However, I can’t let others control my screen, and I can’t “follow” others and have their art displayed on my screen.Probably the most compelling difference between digital art and static traditional art is the ability to display video.  High-resolution GIFs are perfect for this media.  In my experience, viewers love the GIFs.  The giraffe my daughter was requesting is currently one of the most popularly viewed GIF artworks on Electric Objects.Unfortunately, the main thing that’s missing is iconic hardware design.  Nest and Sonos have it, but Electric Objects doesn’t.  The screen and frame look good enough, but the discount power cord and bulky power supply cheapen the emotional impact of the rest of the system.  The company also needs to deliver an application icon that’s also up to the design standards set by leading mobile and hardware brands (think of the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook icons).  It should be an icon users are proud to display on their smartphones.You can update and enhance the software easily, and I’m confident that’s coming.  But it’s a lot harder to update the hardware.  Maybe it’s part of a master plan to hook me on the system and then encourage another hardware purchase in a year or two.I’ve looked at a huge number of Internet-connected hardware over the last few years.  This is one of the most intriguing, well-executed creative new products that I’ve used in a while.