What Talebrix is, and what it talks to
Designed primarily for ages 3–8. Makes 26-page books in a 148 × 210 mm portrait format. Uses an external 24 V supply and needs wi-fi for story writing and illustration. These are design targets; the complete mechanism and performance remain to be validated.
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Talebrix
It sits on a shelf in your child's bedroom, and it is meant to live out rather than come out. Children speak their ideas and choose options on the touchscreen, with a parent nearby.
- Size
Not settled yet. We will measure it once the finished machine is built — a compact tabletop device.
- Power
It runs off an external 24 V supply and stays plugged in, so there is no battery to run down in the middle of a story.
- Stock
Pre-bound blank books made with 250gsm smooth paper, printed page by page.
- Ages
Designed primarily for ages 3 to 8; younger children participate with a parent leading the interaction.
- Finished book
148 × 210 mm portrait, 26 pages, with a custom cover.
- Story Pack
Material for 4 books at a target £15, or £3.75 in pack material per book. Characters and settings come from the child’s ideas. Ink pricing is to be confirmed.
- Talebrix itself
Target launch price £149, including material for 4 books.
The machine, to the millimetre
- Envelope, w × d × h
- Not settled yet. We will measure it once the finished machine is built
- Weight
- Not settled yet. We will weigh it once the finished machine is built
- Display
- 7-inch colour touch panel
- Power
- an external 24 V supply
- Noise
- Not measured yet. We will measure it once the finished machine is built
- Where the book comes out
- The same bottom-front slot is used to insert and retrieve the book
The book it makes
- Page, closed
- 148 × 210 mm portrait
- Open spread
- 296 × 210 mm, landscape
- Pages
- 26 printed faces
- Spine artwork
- Book title, child’s author name and Talebrix logo, with colour chosen to complement the cover. Printable area remains to be validated.
The books in a Story Pack
- Book supply
- Pre-bound blank books made with 250gsm smooth paper
- Printing
- Directly onto the blank book, page by page
- Page turning
- Under development and validation
Talebrix needs wi-fi
The writing and the drawing do not happen inside Talebrix. They happen on our servers, which is why it needs a wi-fi connection and will not make a book without one.
Plan to use Talebrix where wi-fi is available. The printed books can be read anywhere, without a connection or a device.
Where the words and the pictures come from
They are generated, each time, by an AI model. There is no library of stories inside Talebrix and no set of templates with a gap for a name — which is the whole reason the shelf on the homepage has a book about the bin lorry on it. Nobody would ever print that book, because there is a market of exactly one for it.
What Talebrix sends is the answers your child gave and the ages it has been set to. What comes back is a finished book: the words, the pictures, and the cover. It then prints onto a pre-bound blank book in the room with you.
It is worth being clear about what this does and does not mean for the child, because the two get run together constantly. There is nothing for a child to hold, unlock or log into, and no account that belongs to them. What there is, is a spoken exchange of a few questions, out loud, in the room, with you there, plus touchscreen choices. The aim is a finished book in minutes; end-to-end speed still needs validation.
Profiles and cloud processing
You set up a profile for each child in the house, because a household usually has more than one and the right book has to go to the right person. You choose what to call a profile, and it does not have to be their real name — a nickname, what they call themselves, anything at all. Whatever you type is what goes on the cover, so plenty of people use the name only their family uses.
Choose an age or reading level and update it as your child grows. An exact birthday is not required.
The planned device sends speech to a cloud recognition service and uses cloud processing for the story and pictures. Audio deletion and no provider training are requirements we will verify with suppliers. We will publish the confirmed data flow before launch.
This website asks for none of it — see how we handle the one email address we ask for. The age demonstration on the homepage runs entirely in your browser: it stores nothing and sends nothing anywhere.
What Talebrix is not
Most of the questions we get are about what Talebrix might quietly turn into once it is on the side. These are the answers, and they are design constraints rather than a position we might revisit when it suits us.
- Not a feed
Nothing scrolls, because there is nothing underneath.
- Not an app
There is nothing for a child to open, and no account for them to have.
- Not a subscription
Bought once. Story Packs when you want them, and no recurring charge of any kind.
- Not a reading device
The touchscreen presents story choices. The finished story is read as a printed book.
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