The Smart Home Camera That Captures Joy with Beauty and Intelligence
Our Solution
How we helped a startup develop an AI camera that blends fun with security
The Result
Our designs helped the startup win awards at CES and enabled the founders to get a successful exit
The Story
Never miss the magic—Kiba captures spontaneous moments and edits them into memories.
Life’s most memorable moments rarely come with a warning. A child’s first steps, a burst of laughter across the dinner table, the spontaneous cheer at a party—these are the things people wish they could bottle. Traditional cameras made you choose between living the moment and recording it. Kiba set out to dissolve that trade-off: a device smart enough to recognize joy, beautiful enough to belong in the home, and seamless enough to disappear until it was needed.
Security Cameras Lacked Warmth
By the mid-2010s, “smart” cameras were everywhere. They promised safety, convenience, and AI-driven features. But something was missing. People didn’t want to just monitor their homes—they wanted to be part of their homes, free from having to reach for a phone whenever something worth remembering happened. They wanted a camera that didn’t look like a cold, black box on the shelf. They wanted something that felt at home in the room and, at the same time, knew when to capture life’s sparks of joy.
That tension—between security and style, between passive recording and active storytelling—was the starting point for Kiba.
THE SOLUTION
A Camera That Recognizes Joy
At the heart of Kiba was Lensbricks, a young startup that believed cameras could be more than silent observers. Their breakthrough was the Joy Ranking algorithm, a way of teaching a camera to sense excitement and prioritize those moments: a baby wobbling into their first steps, laughter catching fire at a birthday party, the unexpected high-five in the corner of the room.
To make that idea real, Mistral Solutions came in with the hardware and firmware muscle. They built the high-performance internals—the wide-angle sensor, the firmware that could process in real time, and the Wi-Fi backbone that made it seamless.
And then came the design. Our role at Bang Design was to shape the body and the personality of Kiba. We kept it clean, modern, and soft at the edges. It had to feel more like a part of your living space than a surveillance tool. With a 94-degree field of view, Kiba could be placed almost anywhere—on a bookshelf, a desk, even a car dashboard—and still capture the whole story unfolding in front of it.
What came out of this collaboration was more than a gadget. It was the world’s first interactive self-editing camera, a device that knew when to press record so you didn’t have to.
Designing for Home Belonging
We worked closely with our trusted vendors in China to bring the design to life at a prototype level. The ambition was clear: a finish worthy of Apple.
- The body’s white plastic finish carried the same soft sheen as Apple’s iconic white laptops—elegant, tactile, and timeless.
- The metal stand echoed the precision of MacBook Pros, with a fine sand blasted finish that conveyed durability and understated luxury.
- A discreet integrated hinge allowed the stand to swivel up and down, giving users flexibility without cluttering the design.
- The lens was protected with Gorilla Glass, making it scratch-resistant and preventing dust ingress—ensuring every image remained crystal-clear.
- We used intelligent masking to create an “infinite bezel” effect around the camera lens, much like Apple’s laptop displays, so the front looked seamless and premium.
Even at the prototype stage, Kiba looked and felt like a finished product. It wasn’t just functional—it was aspirational.
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Smart Moments, Thoughtful Hardware
Joy Ranking Algorithm
Learns to recognize excitement and automatically prioritizes meaningful moments over routine footage.
94° Wide Field of View
Covers an entire room from a single corner placement, or doubles as a compact in-car companion.
Gorilla Glass Protection
Scratch-proof and dust-sealed lens cover ensures durability and consistently clear images.
Infinite Bezel Design
Intelligent masking creates a seamless, premium look—mirroring modern edge-to-edge display design.
Finest Materials
Premium white plastic sheen, brushed metal stand, and a discreet hinge for smooth swivel adjustment.
DESIGN DETAIL
Wide View, Quiet Presence
The wide field of view wasn’t just a spec sheet line—it changed how people used Kiba. Place it in a corner, and it could catch the entire party. Stick it on a dashboard, and it became a silent travel companion. The subtle form factor meant people didn’t fuss about hiding it or adjusting it. Kiba wasn’t trying to dominate the space—it was there to quietly catch the magic.
THE IMPACT
Memories Curated, Not Recorded
The response was immediate.
- Recognition: Gadget Flow called it “the world’s first interactive self-editing camera.”
- Geek Fence asked, “Have you ever had a moment in life that you wish was recorded as it was happening so that you don’t have to recreate it again?”
- Digital Trends described it as “an automated home video maker that takes care of the filming and editing for you.”
Kiba went on to win a CES Innovation Award in 2016 and was selected for Qualcomm’s Design in India program. Families used it to capture first steps, birthday toasts, and those little unrepeatable moments that often slipped away. The device didn’t flood people with endless footage—it gave them highlights, memories already trimmed and curated.
And in the words of one of its creators:
We didn’t want Kiba to feel like a piece of tech sitting in your living room. We wanted it to feel like part of the family—always there, always ready, but never in the way.
And from our side as design partners:
Our job was to make sure Kiba looked as good as the memories it captured. It had to feel warm, approachable, and effortless—like it had always belonged in the home.
— Bang Design from institutional disinfection systems into the consumer appliance category. The UV-C oven became a flagship offering during a period when reliability and speed truly mattered.
One of the largest jewellery retail chains in the world placed an order for 800+ units for use across their stores.
For Bang Design, the project highlighted our ability to adapt design and manufacturing strategies during fast-changing conditions—balancing usability, engineering rigour, and practical supply-chain decisions to help a startup stand shoulder-to-shoulder with global appliance makers.
Closing Thought
Kiba proved that cameras don’t have to sit on the sidelines. When intelligence, design, and empathy come together, technology can step back so life can take center stage.