3.8] "Collage Square" - Review by all - BabyTech is more fun!

Participating parents with children aged 0-6 years old, as well as pre-parents and pre-moms who are expecting a baby and want to actively use technology such as gadgets, apps, and home appliances in their child-rearing.BabyTech Communityholds a monthly "Review with Everyone - Making Baby Tech More Fun".

This project aims to help community members share their experiences with various baby tech services with the goal of finding enjoyment in using baby tech in their child-rearing lives. Each time, members who have actually used one baby tech service will post a review of the service on a special website. Afterwards, they will share their impressions and usage of the service in an online roundtable discussion, which will be published as a review article on BabyTech.jp.

This is the 8th edition of the "collage squareReview of "Collage Square". Collage Square is a service provided by Kyodo Printing Co. (Ohirune art is a type of art photography in which a sleeping baby is photographed with a background and accessories attached. For more information, please visitJapan Ohirune Art Association website(See the following table for more information).

In this article, community members who have actually used Collage Square review its background richness and ease of editing (on a 5-point scale from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 on a numerical scale). In addition, Tetsuya Nagata, CEO of PapaSmile, and community members participated in an online roundtable discussion (hereinafter referred to as "cross review talk") to discuss the review results and the appeal of CollageSquare!

Cross-Review Talk Participants

Sachi.
Mr. Konnikoni.
iron acid

Papa Smile Co.,Ltd
Representative Director Tetsuya Nagata

[Full range of backgrounds] Although there is a full range of backgrounds to choose from, the target age range is narrow. ......?

Nagata:Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us today. I would like to begin our cross review talk right away. First, I would like to start with the evaluation of the "richness of background" of Collage Square: Sachi rated it a 4, and Koniconi rated it a 5, but she wanted to know more about it when her child was younger. Tetsu-san also rated the background as substantial but not appropriate for her child's current age. After all, as your child gets older, the backgrounds for babies, which are the main target of "Ohirune Art," are too young ....... It is true that backgrounds that use children as the contents of oak cakes, for example, would not match the dimensions if the children were to grow to a certain degree (laughs). The challenge may be how to make parents with children of the right age aware of the existence of Collage Square.

Satisfaction with the finished product: "Ability to crop" from material images was highly rated!

Nagata:Next, we asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with the finished images they created with Collage Square; Sachi said it was easy to create artistic photos. Perhaps it is because many of the backgrounds have a specific area where the child's photo is to be inserted, making it easier to create. Ms. Koniconi was also able to successfully fit her child's photo into the background, and she appreciated the ability to crop the image. In fact, when we spoke with the provider of Collage Square, they were confident in the accuracy of the cropping. I think it is amazing because it is difficult even in Photoshop to crop a baby's fuzzy hair well.

Repeatability] To increase repeatability, is it necessary to propose usage when children are older?

Nagata:Regarding repeatability, does Sachi's comment mean that the younger the age of the child, the more likely it is to be used repeatedly?

Sachi:Yes, I do. When my children were small, I took pictures of them every day, so I might have been like, "Oh, let's use this for Setsubun Oni art: ......". Like I did, I thought that people who can't make good Ohirune art by themselves would enjoy using this collage square to post on social networking sites and make albums.

Nagata:Before the new Corona, you had to participate in events and make your own accessories to take pictures. The digital technology has covered this difficulty, which is good. And Koniconi said that although her child is getting older, she wants to use it for anniversaries and other occasions. This may be a bit of a departure from the concept of Ohirune Art, but perhaps there should be more backgrounds in Collage Square for kindergarten age children.

[Ease of editing] "If cropping an image doesn't work" feature/help is unsatisfactory.

Nagata:Regarding the ease of editing, both Sachi and Koniconi rated it as easy. As for Ms. Koniconi's comment that the text spacing could be narrower, it is true that long names cannot be inserted, and there may be a need for more text, so I hope Collage Square will make improvements in this area. Tetsu-san gave a low rating of 2 for repeatability followed by ease of editing.

Mr. Tetsu:Actually, the photo cropping did not work for me. That is why I gave it a low rating for repeatability and ease of editing. I think it would be nice to have the ability to correct/adjust it when just the face is not cropped out and all sorts of fiddling did not work. ......

There is great potential in the direction of using collage squares with pets!　But lack of awareness of it ......

Q: Did you know that Collage Square can be used to automatically crop not only baby photos, but also family members and pets?

Q: What do you think about using it for something other than baby pictures, and do you have any ideas of how it could be used?

Nagata:All three of you said that you all just learned ...... that Collage Square can be used by family members and pets. The current state of the website that provides the service probably means that they are not aware of such a feature. In fact, Sachi commented in the next question that she would like to see a sample of how to use the service, and I think we need to enhance the explanation of how to use the service in this area.

Sachi:I would rather use it with my pets so they can enjoy the collage square for a longer period of time. It will no longer be a problem when the children grow up and they might rather use it with them.

Nagata:Yes, that is true!　It is a very good editing web app, so it might be good to have such a use. Also, Tetsu-san wanted to use it for New Year's cards. It could also be used for greeting cards and postcards to accompany personalized gifts.

Mr. Tetsu:As my kids get older, I'm honestly only in the mode to do something with my kids' photos, except for the New Year's card photos. ......

I would like to see more samples, explanations, and help to help me use the service!

Q: What did you notice about the collage square?

Nagata:Koniconi commented that it is difficult when children move. It is true that blurred photos do not work well, so you may have a hard time trying to take photos with collage squares.

Mr. Tetsu:It is a good idea to take a separate photo for the collage square.

Nagata:That's right. At the stage of looking at the Collage Square background catalog, I would create an image of the kind of photo I would like to take, and then take a separate photo with the camera application and use it as a material. After all, as Sachi's comment suggests, it would be easier to use if samples and explanations of how to use them were more complete.

Looking forward to new applications and developments from the perspective of using Ohirune art online!

Q: What are your expectations for Collage Square in the future?

Nagata:Finally, on the subject of what I would like to see in CollageSquare in the future. Regarding Tetsu-san's comment about photo cropping and help, this is about the earlier issue where the photo cropping did not work and could not be fine-tuned, right?

Mr. Tetsu:Yes, I have been trying to get help on this for a while now. I looked at the help at that time, but when I pressed help for any function, I was sent to the top of the help page. It would be easier to understand if I could go to the help for the relevant section in one shot. ......

Nagata:That is so true. I also agree with Sachi's comment that it would be nice to have a choice of sizes suitable for social networking posts. I would like there to be squares if possible. I think there is a strong need to post photos on Instagram, especially since it is possible to create photos digitally, so I thought it would be good to have a resolution and angle of view that is tailored to Instagram. It seems to increase the number of repeat customers.

Sachi:I agree.

Nagata:Koniconi's comment that it would be interesting if it were in 3D is indeed interesting!　It would be nice to have a pseudo-3D like iPhone or Facebook, where the viewpoint moves a little when you touch the image. Do you have any last words?

Sachi:Earlier, Mr. Nagata mentioned the idea of using collage squares for personal gifts at ......, and I think that is a very good idea. I think it is a very good idea.

Nagata:For some reason, I feel that photos of children for personal gifts tend to be more subtle, so it may be a good idea to send a sunset art made with collage squares.

Sachi:I think it is fresh for the recipient.

Mr. Tetsu:Until now, I think the enjoyment of Ohirune Art has been completed on the spot. Now that it is online, I think it will be used in a variety of ways. I hope that you will keep this in mind as you develop the project.

Related links for this article

Collage Square official website (https://ohiruneart.collagesquare.jp/)

Japan Ohirune Art Association (https://www.ohiruneart.com/)

BabyTech Community (https://babytech.jp/community/)

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