These reusable digital Polaroids are a clever way to cover a fridge in memories

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. You can update this photo as often as you want. I love when my friends have their fridges covered in Polaroids. It’s often a visual crash course of what’s been going on in their lives chronicling recent adventures, get-togethers, and other fun moments.

But I don’t love the idea of schlepping around a clunky instant camera or paying a premium for instant film with hit-or-miss results. That’s why I’m infatuated with these magnetic digital Polaroids from a small company called VidaBay . They look like instant photos, but use NFC tech and color E Ink screens so you can change the image as often as you want without ever having to charge a battery.

Technical Details

At roughly 4mm thick and 2. 5 inches in size, the VidaBay NFC E-Paper Fridge Magnet — also known as the Snap — reminds me of Xteink’s tiny X3 e-reader , but it doesn’t have any buttons, ports, or connectors. The Snap is more like a very tiny version of the Aura Ink digital photo frame you can stick to your fridge.

VidaBay NFC E-Paper Fridge Magnet Where to Buy: $35. 99 at VidaBay (three-pack) $27. 99 at Amazon The Snap uses the same kind of NFC chip that lets your smartphone double as your credit or debit card.

Using an accompanying mobile app images are wirelessly transferred by aligning your smartphone’s NFC antenna to the one located inside the lower left corner of the Snap. Changing the photo the Snap displays takes about 25 to 30 seconds. While the actual image transfer is a 10-second process, the rest of the time is used to refresh the Snap’s E Ink screen.

Industry Implications

Unlike devices such as the Kindle Colorsoft that use a black and white e-paper screen overlaid with a color filter so screen refreshes happen almost instantly, the Snap uses e-paper with multiple color pigments that take much longer to refresh. The results look better, but you’ll have to wait a little longer for them. The process of updating the Snap with a new image using NFC is easy once you master it, but it can take a few attempts to get there.

Out of the box the device comes with a plastic screen protector that’s printed with a guide so you know exactly how to position your smartphone to ensure the NFC antennas line up. But the guide only works for the iPhone. Android is also supported, but its up to you to figure out exactly where your device’s NFC chip is located which can take some trial and error.

The Snap and your smartphone also need to be held very close for the NFC pairing to work – closer than a case allows. The process doesn’t work with my iPhone 16 Pro inside a leather Nomad case , and even the thin silicone case protecting my OnePlus 12 was too thick for the NFC transfers to succeed. One of the many advantages of E Ink’s display tech is that, similar to an Etch A Sketch or Magna Doodle toy, once an image is formed it remains on screen without any additional power.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.