Digital images from digital cameras have all but replaced the printed photos that we used to keep around as reminders of special moments. But the GIFTY camera is a kind of step backward in the realm of photographic technology, instantly producing a product that you can not only hold in your hands, but animate with a simple hand gesture.

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Designed by Jiho Jang, the GIFTY is a burst-shot camera that takes picture after picture in a short amount of time. It works almost like a video camera, but with a slower frame rate. After you capture a short series of frames (from one to five seconds), you can print them out immediately via an integrated “zero-ink” printer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmHU1qmtGfA

The printed frames, each of them a moment in time, can then be stacked and assembled into a flip book. As you flip through the small images, they appear to be animated. It is almost the same as taking and then watching a video on your smartphone, but with a tangible product that you can hold in your hands and pass off to friends as unique gifts.

The GIFTY is just a concept at the moment, but with a little research and development we could soon be making real-life GIFs of all our memorable moments.