FrameWizard makes still images move.(FaceCake Marketing Technologies Inc.)

FaceCake Marketing Technologies Inc., Calabasas, Calif., stopped traffic at PMA 09 with an eye-catching new product, the FrameWizard. Unlike traditional digital frames, the FrameWizard allows consumers to create realistic movement in their (not quite) still images. For example, hair can blow in the wind, ocean waves can roll, a mouth can smile, and snow can fall.

Linda Smith, CEO of FaceCake, a first-time exhibitor at PMA 09, was rewarded by having the FrameWizard chosen as a PMA 09 Retailer "Hot Pick." She says the software behind the FrameWizard, called Moving Memories, evolved from years in the field of visual imaging and product demonstration. Among other things, the company is known for its cosmetic procedure site, where users can see a realistic representation of how they would look after plastic surgery or a dermal filler.

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"In doing that, we had to make images 3D, so users could turn their faces and see what would happen. Moving Memories, which evolved from our facial recognition technology, allows users to create amazing, very natural movements in a still image, such as the subjects' blinking or smiling more widely than they were. The software allows for cause and effect; so, if the wind is blowing in a particular direction, the hair and the dress blow that way," Smith says. "It adds an element of realness to photos."

The FrameWizard also includes software called Element Effects, which allows users to make rain or add falling leaves.

"The Element Effects can also be occasion based, such as confetti falling, or Fourth of July fireworks over a picture of a picnic," Smith says. "There are also smaller effects, such as smoke rising from a birthday candle."

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