The team at Retro, an app for sharing photos with close friends and family, is experimenting with the possibility of using generative artificial intelligence for more creative applications. To try out the latest, cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies, the team created new app called Splatthat allows you to turn any photo into a coloring page for children.
As any parent will tell you, children love to color. And thanks to the internet, there are a seemingly endless number of coloring pages you can print at home.
However, many of the sites that host these pages are filled with ads and other clutter, making navigation difficult. Other times, printable pages are only available for a small fee, which some parents are not willing to pay given the one-time nature of most children's scribbled art projects.
This inspired the Retro team to develop an app for printing coloring pages at home – from your own photos or those shared in kid-friendly educational categories like animals, space, flowers, cartoons, robots, cars and more.
To start using Splat, take a photo or select a photo from your Camera Roll. You can then choose the style of the photo you want to color – for example, anime, 3D movie, manga, cartoon or comic book. The app will then transform your photo using artificial intelligence into an on-screen page or printable page that kids can color.
Instead of requiring a tedious registration process, the app walks you through customization options the first time you start creating. Here you will be asked to select your preferred app icon and check the different categories that your child likes. You can also choose whether you want kids to color the picture as a printable page or on screen (great for when kids are bored but you don't want them to be drawn into a TV show or game).
You can try one Generative AI project to get familiar with the application. It then costs $4.99 per week or $49.99 per year to continue generating new photos. The weekly option allows for 25 pages per week and the annual option allows for 500 pages per year. The ability to purchase or access settings is blocked from young children by a pop-up requiring the parent's year of birth.
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In short tests, the app worked as expected and the generation time was short, allowing you to quickly go from an idea to a printed graphic, ready for coloring, cutting out, or whatever else your child wants to do.
Splat is one of several experiments using generative artificial intelligence to inspire children's creativity and imagination in new ways. Another company, Naklejkabox, offers AI-generated printed stickers for coloring, and Casio has also released a fluffy robot pet called Moflin that uses AI to develop its personality over time.
