A photo booth is a nice addition to any party, but when you combine one with an iPad and trendy animated GIFs, you'll have a line around the block trying to get in. PHHHOTO offers just that.
The service converts an ordinary iPad into a self-contained GIF production engine, courtesy of cloud storage and a little extra hardware. It uses the iPad's front-facing camera, so resolution won't be too hot, but the app provides a ringlight to to illuminate faces for a professional look.
Once you're in front of the camera, you activate the shutter and it takes a few pictures, sending them off to PHHHOTO's servers, where they are assembled into an animated GIF. The finished product is sent back to the iPad and stored online as well so it can be linked to, shared and so on.
The app is put out by HyperHyper, a "creative technology studio" based in New York and Los Angeles that made it for a holiday party and decided to take it a step further. The company is partnering with local services for rental and installation of the booth and lighting.
It costs 99 cents to activate the app, but parties will run you $10 per event (for as many photos as you'd like) — or you can really shell out for a big event with custom colors and multiple iPads. At $999, though, it's not likely you'll be doing it for a friendly get-together.
Sure, you could probably find a free GIF-making app and cobble something together, but if you put a tip jar next to this photo booth, chances are you'll recoup your investment. PHHHOTO should be available in April.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
