Able to put your AI prompting expertise to work for product customization? Smartphone case and accent maker PopSockets is as we speak introducing a intelligent new AI Customizer tool that may permit anybody to design their subsequent telephone accent — together with grips, circumstances and wallets — by way of an optimized model of Secure Diffusion XL (SDXL). The corporate believes the characteristic will encourage its prospects to create personalised circumstances and equipment which can be distinctive and artistic, and permit for self-expression in ways in which a standardized product catalog can’t totally ship.
To make use of the characteristic, prospects can go to a web page on the PopSockets website the place they’ll enter a immediate that describes the picture they need to generate.
Earlier than getting began, PopSockets first shows a pop-up that requires you to comply with the phrases and circumstances, which incorporates indicating that you’ve got all the required rights to photographs you add, and aren’t infringing on third events. It additionally says PopSockets could reject orders that don’t adjust to its phrases or people who embrace infringing content material. The phrases moreover apply to a contest PopSockets is operating that awards $100,00 value of prizes for the most effective AI paintings, with the grand prize winner in November incomes $50,000. Each day winners may also be introduced by means of December 25, 2023.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-07-at-11.31.43%E2%80%AFAM.jpg?w=407)
Picture Credit: PopSockets AI Customizer
To generate a picture, you sort within the offered textual content field. For instance, you can sort one thing like “a fantasy land of rainbow flowy rivers, mountains, and cotton clouds” or some other thought you may have.
In the event you’re stumped, guided prompts can be found that counsel numerous topics, actions, locations, colours and types and level you to trending imagery throughout classes. It would even counsel some prompts for you, like “Futuristic New York,” “Neon Mountain,” “Galactic skyscraper,” “cotton sweet gradient” and dozens of others throughout trending classes, which presently embrace journey, floral, animals, nature, surrealism, butterfly and patterns.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-07-at-11.31.52%E2%80%AFAM.jpg?w=458)
Picture Credit: PopSockets AI Customizer
You may also optionally choose a method, like Photographic, Cinematic, Line Artwork, Comedian E-book, Fantasy Artwork, Panorama Portray, Impressionism, Pop Artwork, Sketch and lots of extra from classes like Creative, Sensible, Distinctive, Sample and Temper. The platform additionally presents an optionally available background removing characteristic, so you’ll be able to place a photograph of an individual or a pet into an AI-generated scene (e.g. you can put your cat in outer house).
After you generate your distinctive designs and paintings — a course of that takes lower than 60 seconds — you’ll be able to select to both modify the consequence, generate new photos, or apply it to an out there product. The AI Customizer helps the corporate’s widespread PopSockets telephone grips, its telephone circumstances and wallets (each customary and MagSafe choices), in addition to its new Seems to be graphic telephone case inserts, that are quickly to launch.
Beneath the hood, the corporate tells TechCrunch its PopSockets Customizer AI is constructed on a large-scale mannequin engine that delivers “superior decision, finer particulars, and extra practical photos” in contrast with many text-to-image turbines as we speak. That’s crucial as a result of the pictures must be printed on merchandise, not simply displayed on a pc display.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-07-at-11.42.13%E2%80%AFAM.jpg?w=402)
Picture Credit: PopSockets AI Customizer
Sadly, the AI doesn’t all the time get issues fairly proper. For instance, once I requested for a photographic picture of a unicorn (sure, I’m a 10-year-old lady), I used to be given photos of a white horse with two horns, no horn, or a drooping horn, in a single case.
Typically the horn was off-center too. In one other, the unicorn gave the impression to be making an attempt to eat its flower necklace and had one thing hanging from its eye, like an earring.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-07-at-11.47.20%E2%80%AFAM.jpg?w=604)
Picture Credit: PopSockets AI Customizer
However once I prompted the AI Customizer to make three extra photos, it got here up with extra usable choices, although it ignored different requests, like “with a flower necklace” in some circumstances.
Utilizing solely the offered prompts can also be not advisable, as you might not get a lot variation in your outcomes. As an example, once I prompted utilizing solely the choice “futuristic New York,” I obtained 4 comparable pictures of tall buildings lined in greenery. However should you add extra particulars to your request — like asking for a futuristic New York with neon indicators and flying automobiles — you’d get a greater variety of outcomes.
![](https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Screenshot-2023-11-07-at-11.59.40%E2%80%AFAM.jpg?w=382)
Picture Credit: PopSockets AI Customizer
In different phrases, identical to AI picture turbines on the net, the precise outcomes could be hit and miss and you could have to retry a number of occasions to get the pictures excellent.
After all, you don’t have to make use of the brand new characteristic to generate some type of fantastical imagery, although many do. Somewhat, you need to use it to easily create a better-looking, extra skilled photograph of your topic in a background of your selecting. You may also merely use the device so as to add textual content or stickers to your picture, should you select.
Earlier than testing, PopSockets will present you ways your picture seems in your product, which is useful — notably if it cuts off a part of the picture to make room for the telephone’s digital camera array, for example, and must be moved round, or zoomed out. Or possibly you’ll discover the picture doesn’t do nicely when compressed to the small house offered by a telephone grip and can need to return and alter it.
The ensuing product is then out there so as to add to your cart at an ordinary worth, as you’ll some other product from the positioning’s catalog.
“This pioneering use of know-how permits customers to create a really distinctive accent for the product we use greater than anything – our telephones,” stated Gary Schoenfeld, CEO of PopSockets, in a press release in regards to the launch. “This breakthrough in AI know-how actually displays that Creativeness is limitless, and we will’t wait to see the artistic potentialities it brings to our neighborhood’s fingertips this vacation season and past,” he stated.