{"id":157805,"date":"2025-11-24T22:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T22:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/157805\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T22:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T22:57:08","slug":"hands-on-with-stickerbox-the-ai-powered-sticker-maker-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/157805\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands on with Stickerbox, the AI-powered sticker maker for kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new AI-powered toy for kids called Stickerbox<\/a>, and, before you groan, I\u2019m here to report that it\u2019s surprisingly fun. <\/p>\n

Stickerbox, a product born out of Brooklyn-based startup Hapiko<\/a>, is a voice-activated sticker printer. The device takes whatever creative idea you have in your head and transforms it into a printed sticker that you can then color, peel, and stick anywhere.<\/p>\n

Before trying the device itself, I have to admit I came with a preconceived negative bias \u2014 as did my fellow tester (my daughter). Our initial reactions were similiar: \u201cAn AI that prints stickers? I\u2019d rather design and print my own.\u201d <\/p>\n

After trying the review unit sent by the company, we were won over.<\/p>\n

Stickerbox<\/a>, I realized, could represent a new form of creative play \u2014 and one that doesn\u2019t outsource the child\u2019s imagination to an AI model as much as you\u2019d think. <\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credits:TechCrunch<\/p>\n

Testing the AI sticker printer<\/p>\n

The $99.99 toy itself is a small, bright red box with a black-and-white screen and a big, white \u201cpush-to-talk\u201d button on top. It ships with three rolls of paper, which equates to 180 stickers, as well as a power cord and colored pencils.<\/p>\n

The box\u2019s color scheme is reminiscent of the Etch A Sketch, which makes sense, given that the Stickerbox feels like a modern spin on that concept. In the Etch A Sketch\u2019s case, you have to learn how to control different knobs to create the image in your mind. With Stickerbox, those \u201cknobs\u201d are replaced with something more abstract: the voice commands you use to prompt the AI model. <\/p>\n

Kids aren\u2019t thinking about how to be better prompt engineers, of course; they\u2019re just exploring their imagination and having fun seeing their ideas come to life. Any improvement in their prompting abilities is a side effect.<\/p>\n

To initially set up the device, a parent will need to help. Much like adding a smart speaker to your home\u2019s Wi-Fi, you have to first connect to the Stickerbox\u2019s Wi-Fi, then enter the information to connect with your home network. The setup process, which only took a minute, went off without a hitch.<\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credits:Stickerbox<\/p>\n

Using Stickerbox is simple. You push the button, describe an image out loud, then release the button to see your text appear on screen, followed by an AI-generated image as the printer spits out a physical copy. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a serendipity to an experience in which you\u2019re thinking of an idea and then holding it in your hand in a matter of seconds.<\/p>\n

The device\u2019s thermal image printer requires no ink, and the paper is BPS and BPA<\/a>-free, making it safe to use. <\/p>\n

The printed sticker is easy to tear off and then can be colored in with the colored pencils that come with the device. Your own crayons and markers also work. This combines the somewhat dopamine-driven experience of thinking up new things to print with the more calming or meditative aspects that come with coloring, similar to giving kids a coloring book.<\/p>\n

This ended up offering a healthy balance between using potentially addictive tech and then slowing down to engage in a real-world activity. It also helped to address potential boredom. <\/p>\n

\"\"Image Credits:TechCrunch<\/p>\n

The more you use the Sitckerbox, the more you realize how complex your prompts can be. You don\u2019t just have to ask for a basic image, like a \u201cmagical unicorn,\u201d you can speak to the Stickerbox with long, train-of-thought commands, and the AI parses what you mean. (This is particularly useful given that kids don\u2019t tend to explain things in a straightforward fashion.) <\/p>\n

Making \u201cAI for Kids\u201d <\/p>\n

Hapiko, the company behind Stickerbox, was founded this year by CEO Arun Gupta<\/a> and CTO Robert (Bob)Whitney<\/a>. The pair originally met while working at the e-commerce marketplace Grailed, where Whitney was director of engineering and Gupta was CEO. (The company sold to GOAT Group in 2022.)<\/p>\n

Before Grailed, Gupta founded and launched the Y Combinator-backed hardware sleep tracker WakeMate<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"\"Stickerbox co-founders Arun Gupta (CEO) and Bob Whitney (CTO)Image Credits:Stickerbox<\/p>\n

Whitney, meanwhile, had worked as the director of engineering at The New York Times\u2019 Games division, as the publisher pivoted from offering just crosswords to becoming a full-fledged gaming app, acquiring Wordle<\/a> and launching<\/a> other games like Connections and Strads. While that experience taught him a lot about what makes a great consumer-facing product, his later stint at Anthropic gave him a first-hand look at the advances in AI technology.<\/p>\n

However, it was his experience as a father that inspired Stickerbox. <\/p>\n

When his son asked for a coloring page he didn\u2019t have on hand, he turned to ChatGPT to make a printable image. <\/p>\n

\u201cI made it for him \u2014 a tiger eating ice cream. And he had never seen a printer before. I got out from under the bed, our HP brother printer \u2014 literally dusted it off and printed it for him, and he ran off happily and started coloring it,\u201d explained Whitney. \u201cBut, a minute later, the gears were turning, and he came back to me, and he was like, \u2018I want a lizard riding a skateboard.\u2019 And I was like, okay, cool, let me make that for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son was so thrilled with the process of being able to say something and see it come to life that he realized there could be something to this. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just saw this look on his face of magic \u2014 like pure magic,\u201d noted Whitney. <\/p>\n

The co-founders were also thinking about how AI technology offered so many novel experiences, but most weren\u2019t made for kids. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s building AI specifically for kids. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re looking for,\u201d said Gupta. \u201cWhat are the right guardrails? What are the right ways? What are the right products?\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

They realized that kids have great imaginations, ideal for working with an AI image model. <\/p>\n

\u201c[They have] endless imagination and creativity \u2026 they\u2019re learning new things every day. Every week, they\u2019ve got a new obsession. We\u2019re literally the first people in the world, I think, to put an image model inside of a box,\u201d Gupta said.<\/p>\n

Built for Updates <\/p>\n

Under the hood, Stickerbox actually uses a combination of AI models, including its own proprietary tech focused on making the device kid-safe. It won\u2019t respond to requests for harmful content, like violence or sexual imagery, and it filters out swear words. And if you try a somewhat more innocuous command, like \u201cboobs,\u201d it just prints a random sticker that may be vaguely related to the word. (For instance, you might get a generic cartoon girl, but not a large-chested one.)<\/p>\n

After trying and failing to get a naughty result, most kids will likely go back to just prompting the device for silly images instead. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be the trusted brand for parents where you don\u2019t have to look over your kid\u2019s shoulder and be like, \u2018what are they doing? How are they using this?,\u201d said Gupta. <\/p>\n

For now, the company generates some revenue from the device sales, but it keeps the cost of restocking paper low. It\u2019s just $5.99 for three rolls, which equates to 180 stickers. (It\u2019s currently running a promotion that offers six rolls with every purchase now.)<\/p>\n

Over time, the team plans to explore adding premium features, including a way to upload your own image to imagine yourself in fantastic scenarios or collaboration tools.<\/p>\n

As a Wi-Fi-connected device, the Stickerbox is regularly updated with new firmware and features. In tests, for instance, we were able to print some recognizable characters, but a more recent update added new guardrails to guide kids toward more original designs. <\/p>\n

A soon-to-launch companion app also lets you view past creations and save favorites, and could ultimately serve as the home for premium features.<\/p>\n

Stickerbox is backed by $7 million<\/a> in funding from Maveron<\/a>, Serena Williams\u2019 Serena Ventures<\/a>, the Allen Institute\u2019s AI2 incubator<\/a>, and various angels, including Matt Brezina, and product leaders from other consumer apps.<\/p>\n

My kids got their stickerbox last week and have been ripping through rolls. It\u2019s been fun to see them turn stickers into creative art projects pic.twitter.com\/lMXWoCPiTN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Brezina \ud83c\udf33 \ud83c\udf0a (@brezina) November 18, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n