Though Polaroid still makes instant-print cameras, most people these days capture memories using a smartphone. The Impossible Instant Lab from 2012 was devised to turn phone images into physical prints. The Impossible Project bought Polaroid in 2017 and the company has now announced a more polished official version of the instant printer.
Using the Polaroid Lab looks to be very similar to using the Impossible Instant Lab. You select an image on your smartphone, pop the phone screen-down onto the cradle to the top and set off the printing process.
Upon pushing the big red button, the image on the smartphone is transferred to the Polaroid instant film via a “combination of mirrors, light and the unique Polaroid chemistry” before emerging through the slot to develop. And voilà, your smartphone memory becomes a gloriously analog photograph to stick on your locker, or paste into your scrapbook.
“The idea behind the Polaroid Lab is that it turns your most precious smartphone photos into tangible Polaroid photographs – bringing them into the world as something you can hold in your hand and store on the fridge door rather than in the cloud,” said the company’s Oskar Smolokowski.
The Polaroid Lab goes on sale next month for US$129.99, though you’ll also need to fork out for a steady supply of instant film packs from the company.
Polaroid Lab turns smartphone snaps into instant prints [New Atlas]