An audio postcard earned National Tsing Hua University alumnus Chen Chien-cheng (陳建誠) third place in the Ministry of Culture’s iMatch competition, adding to the school’s Department of Industrial Engineering’s list of achievements.
The next-generation postcard, called the “iRecki,” allows users to record voice messages.
Chen, who owns a company called Wow Creative, said the product set itself apart from similar inventions by other firms because it enables people to record high-definition audio clips and has built-in sound effects, such as the whistle of a locomotive, which people can use creatively.
“With text, there are limited ways to express yourself, but a voice recording can communicate a message in the most faithful manner and messages last an eternity,” Chen said, adding that users can record messages for their future selves.
The iRecki is also equipped with LEDs, which, combined with a specially designed window, create an effect that accentuates the postcard’s artwork.
The postcards are rechargeable through a built-in USB socket and can be displayed in the home rather than just being a memento that lies forgotten in a drawer, Chen said.
Several institutions have expressed an interest in iRecki, Chen said, including Chunghwa Post Co — which commissioned Wow Creative to make a Miaoli County tung tree commemorative LED postcard and a “colorful holidays, glorious Taiwan” stamp folder — and Taipei Zoo, which asked him to design an LED audio card featuring panda cub Yuan Zai (圓仔).
Chen said Wow Creative has also become an authorized distributor of the Joan Miro Exhibition in the Asia-Pacific region, which allows him to blend his invention with traditional art.
He said people will be able to custom-order their own cards.
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