Thanks to everyone who pledged and enabled us to double our original funding goal!

With our Kickstarter campaign having ended, you still have the chance to be among the first to receive your personal Instant Lab. Please visit www.the-impossible-project.com to start diving into the magic of analog instant photography now.

Follow Impossible on Twitter USA / EU / ASIA and on Facebook USA / EU / ASIA.

For press, please find hi res photos and further information here. For press inquiries please contact marlene(at)the-impossible-project.com 

Gizmodo - "Impossible looks to do the Impossible and turn your phone snaps into real, instant photos."

Cult of Mac - "This seems to be the perfect marriage between the analog and digital worlds."

uncrate - "Forget AirPrint - if you're looking for a way to get your photos out of your iPhone and onto some paper, the Impossible Instant Lab can get the job done."

Magnate - "The coolest iPhone photography accessory you've ever seen."

CNET Crave - "Polaroid cameras used to be the coolest things. You just don't get the same thrill from capturing your photo on your smartphone. Until now."

psfk - "The Impossible Instant Lab solves the problem of printing pictures from the iPhone, ejecting your photos ready to develop in the palm of your hand."

core77 - "The Instant Lab allows cameraphone shutterbugs to print their images as genuine Polaroid snapshots, iconic white border and all."

Pop Photo - "There's a whole cottage industry popping up centered around printing out iPhone photos, but this Kickstarter is one of the most interesting options."

Your digital images transformed into real instant photographs. That’s impossible, right?

Right! We are Impossible and we love instant photography. We love it so much, we were crazy enough to buy the last Polaroid factory in order to save instant film for the future. If you've ever held an SX 70 in your hand, you probably understand. It's such a beautiful piece of design and the photos it makes are so different from any other camera - unique and magical. But even we instant film aficionados take a lot of pictures with our iPhones, so we wanted to find a way to turn those digital iPhone images into true instant photos.

Well … we invented it. The Impossible Instant Lab!

Melt those iPhone Pixels into a True Analog Photograph.

The Impossible Instant Lab is designed to transform any digital image via your iPhone into an instant photo that is exposed using only the light from the display, then processed and developed by chemicals. A photo that exists physically – IRL. A photo that is a one-of-a-kind original that can be shared, exhibited and preserved. A photo that no longer needs an electronic device to be seen.

Easy to use. Everywhere.

Just select an image from the Instant Lab app, place the iPhone in the cradle and slide open the shutter on the base. A signal tells you when the exposure is finished. Close the shutter, push the button and the Instant Lab ejects your photo, ready to develop in the palm of your hand. That’s it!

Collapse the tower and the Instant Lab is fully portable and ready to go wherever your heart desires.

The Impossible Instant Lab Story

A passionate team of old and young, brand new and vastly experienced instant photography aficionados came together a year ago, pursuing the idea to develop a new instant camera for Impossible. On the way we came up with the idea of the Instant Lab. We built the first prototype, shot the first photos and finally developed the perfect design. We involved professionals in fine mechanics, optics, usability design, production design and app design to create a great device with a hands-on user experience.

Revolutionary concept and design - high quality production - made in Germany

We teamed up with Prof. Achim Heine, Berlin, the industrial designer who designed the Leica Digilux 1 in 2002, a revolutionary camera which transfers the tangible analog values of photography into the digital age.

With the design and concept of the Impossible Instant Lab he embraces these two worlds again by creating a beautiful device which transforms your digital images into pure and magic Impossible instant photos.

Our production partner is DHW Fototechnik in Braunschweig, Germany, a successor of the legendary camera producer Rollei, where highly-skilled engineers still produce analog cameras and optical devices until today.

Your Impossible Instant Lab: We will get it done – and on time.

We have fully engineered each individual piece of the 48 parts of the device. We have a handful of fully working prototypes. We have selected all necessary vendors and tool makers. We have carefully planned a timeline for the mass-production and delivery of the devices approximately 22–24 weeks after Kickstarter funding, starting mid-February 2013. Orders are processed in the order received. Kickstarter is the only place we will offer it for pre-sale. Grab your device now. We’ll keep you posted with updates during production.

The Specs

• Cradle compatible with iPhone4/4s AND iPhone 5 included. We are also working on a cradle for at least one Android device, please stay tuned to our website for updates.
• Dimensions (metric): collapsed 148mm long x 111mm wide x 62mm tall; expanded 176mm tall
• Dimensions (english): collapsed 5.8" long x 4.3" wide x 2.4" tall; expanded 6.9" tall
• Micro-processor-controlled film development unit with Smart Charger
• Li-Ion rechargable battery – 150(!) development cycles with one charge 
• Compatible with instant film for Polaroid 600 and SX 70 cameras
• International Patent Pending 

Reward

Meet the Makers: Impossible

Impossible is the only company producing instant film for original Polaroid™ cameras today. We started our great adventure in 2008 by purchasing the world's last remaining Polaroid film factory in Enschede, The Netherlands and restarted production. Impossible was founded on the simple conviction that analog things have major value in a digital world. So far, we have opened up Impossible Project spaces in NYC, Tokyo, Paris, Vienna and Enschede.

SDK Developers and App Makers are Welcome!

Yes, we will openly publish the app code for the developing process through an SDK. Anyone can incorporate the exposure module (color tables, exposure times, film types) into their own app. You can also create your own awesome app that does much more than just developing a photo. Using the many tools available from Apple, you can apply all kinds of pre-processing, add layers, mix photos together, etc. We are already thrilled to see what you will build around this device and what exciting photos will come from it. Surprise and impress us! 

All we need is you. Your support. Your action. Your backing. 

With your help, we are ready to:

• Order the injection molds and production tools: a huge one-time investment
• Order the first production quantities: we are working with deeply experienced manufacturers, but we need to know how many to make, and more is better
• Manufacture the optical wide-angle lens system: the high-quality, anti-reflection coated, precision glass lenses- and again, more is better

Let’s Get Started!

Get this device before it hits retail and for a big discount over the $299 retail price. Show your support by selecting any of the pledge levels on the right. Enlist others! Spread the word! The more we can raise, the better and faster we can produce. We thank you for believing in the Impossible. Together with you we will make it happen! 

Join our nearly 30,000 Facebook friends at http://www.facebook.com/theimpossibleproject to share and discuss the Instant Lab.

Credits

Many people dedicated their time, energy, vibes and mojo into this project. We say special thanks to:

• The incredible Impossible team and DHW
• Our friends at Heine/Lenz/Zizka in Berlin and Frankfurt for love and support
• Our very spontaneous director/DP Andreas Schimanski for the project video 
• Soaring piano found @ audiojungle and instrumental "Sunshine" by James Peel for the music in our video 
• Toni, Katharina, Phillip and friends from Berlin, for starring in our video 
• AND YOU, THE KICKSTARTER BACKERS, WHO MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE!