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Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

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Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#1

Post by spydertennis »

Bob and Arun here, creators of Stickerbox.

If AI were built for kids, what would it look like?

Asking that question led us to creativity, and more specifically, the power of kids’ imaginations. We wanted to let kids combine the power of their ideas with AI tools but we needed to make sure we did it safely and in the right way.

Enter Stickerbox, a voice powered sticker printer. By combining AI image generation with thermal sticker printing, we instantly turn kids' wildest ideas into real stickers they can color, stick, and share.

What surprised us most is how the “AI” disappears behind the magic of the device. The moment that consistently amazes kids is when the printer finishes and they are holding their own idea as a real sticker. A ghost on a skateboard, a dragon doing its taxes, their dog as a superhero, anything they can dream of, they can hold in their hand. Their reactions are what pushed us to keep building, even though hardware can be really hard.

Along the way the scope of the project grew more than we expected: navigating supply chains, sourcing safe BPA/BPS free thermal paper, passing safety testing for a children’s product, and designing an interface simple enough that a five year old can walk up and just talk to it. We also spent a lot of time thinking about kids’ data and privacy so that parents would feel comfortable having this in their home.

Stickerbox is our attempt to make modern AI kid-safe, playful, and tangible. We’d love to hear what you think!

P.S. If you’re interested in buying one for yourself or as a gift, use code FREE3PACK to get an extra free pack of paper refills.

Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer
stickerbox.com

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#2

Post by smokeydoe »

Looks really cool, but unfortunately I can not use it because thermal printing paper is coated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA) or its substitute, Bisphenol-S (BPS), which can be absorbed through skin contact, potentially leading to metabolic, reproductive, or cancerous issues. It’s basically a very fine plastic dust. Though risk depends on exposure duration and amount, it’s not something I would feel comfortable with kids.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5453537/

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#3

Post by easton »

don't mean to steal your customers, but can I just buy good thermal sticker paper somewhere that would work with a regular receipt printer? That would be fun for side nonsense, with or without AI.

When I was more youthful I remember getting the avery sticker sheets for a school election, but a roll where someone could do one at a time would be more useful for random stuff.

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#7

Post by gingericha »

smokeydoe wrote: post #2

Looks really cool, but unfortunately I can not use it because thermal printing paper is coated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA) or its substitute, Bisphenol-S (BPS), which can be absorbed through skin contact, potentially leading to metabolic, reproductive, or cancerous issues. It’s basically a very fine plastic dust. Though risk depends on exposure duration and amount, it’s not something I…

The site claims to have BPA and BPS free printing paper

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#8

Post by turkeyboi »

smokeydoe wrote: post #2

Looks really cool, but unfortunately I can not use it because thermal printing paper is coated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA) or its substitute, Bisphenol-S (BPS), which can be absorbed through skin contact, potentially leading to metabolic, reproductive, or cancerous issues. It’s basically a very fine plastic dust. Though risk depends on exposure duration and amount, it’s not something I…

Page claims “No-BPA and no-BPS printing paper”

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#9

Post by loloquwowndueo »

smokeydoe wrote: post #2

Looks really cool, but unfortunately I can not use it because thermal printing paper is coated with endocrine-disrupting chemicals like Bisphenol-A (BPA) or its substitute, Bisphenol-S (BPS), which can be absorbed through skin contact, potentially leading to metabolic, reproductive, or cancerous issues. It’s basically a very fine plastic dust. Though risk depends on exposure duration and amount, it’s not something I…

Did you miss the part where they explicitly said they did “ sourcing safe BPA/BPS free thermal paper” ?

Re: Show HN: Stickerbox, a kid-safe, AI-powered voice to sticker printer

#10

Post by jackb4040 »

ghostpepper wrote: post #5

Does a human review every sticker before it's ever shown to a child? If not, it's only a matter of time before the AI spits out something accidentally horrific.

I searched their site for any information on "how" they can claim it's safe for kids. This is what I could find: https://stickerbox.com/blogs/all/ai-for-kids-a-parent-s-guid...

> No internet open browsing or open chat features. > AI toys shouldn’t need to go online or talk to strangers to work. Offline AI keeps playtime private and focused on creativity.

> No recording or long-term data storage. > If it’s recording, it should be clear and temporary. Kids deserve creative freedom without hidden mics or mystery data trails.

> No eavesdropping or “always-on” listening > Devices designed for kids should never listen all the time. AI should wake up only when it’s invited to.

> Clear parental visibility and control. > Parents should easily see what the toy does, no confusing settings, no buried permissions.

> Built-in content filters and guardrails. > AI should automatically block or reword inappropriate prompts and make sure results stay age-appropriate and kind."

Obviously the thing users here know, and "kid-safe" product after product has proven, is that safety filters for LLMs are generally fake. Perhaps they can exist some day, but a breakthrough like that isn't gonna come from an application-layer startup like this. Trillion dollar companies have been trying and failing for years.

All the other guardrails are fine but basically pointless if your model has any social media data in its dataset.

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