【AI前沿】The Dory Sign is E ink, smart screen simplicity at its finest
Hands-onThe Dory Sign is E ink, smart screen simplicity at its finestDory CEO claims the $149 signs won’t be bricked should Dory go out of business.Scharon Harding–May 18, 2026 1:26 pm|58I customized the Dory Sign to introduce my dog. The polka dot frame is optional, removable, and costs $29 extra.Credit:
Scharon HardingI customized the Dory Sign to introduce my dog. The polka dot frame is optional, removable, and costs $29 extra.Credit:
Scharon HardingText
settingsStory textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth*StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers onlyLearn moreMinimize to navMany gadgets marketed as being “smart” make me wonder if they would be better off dumb.Some examples aresmart TVsthat insist on sending your activities to businesses totrack you, smart fridges that use the Internetto cycle through ads,smart gym equipment that won’t work offline, smart toothbrushes whosebatteries drain too quickly, or virtually any gadget that forces you to use a minimally effective or otherwise unimpressive app.Too often, modern technologies, like inter-device connectivity and artificial intelligence, are shoehorned into gadgets that would be more intuitive to use, affordable, accessible, and/or durable without them.Dory Sign, however, is a reminder of how technology can improve something as simple as a sign without overshadowing the product’s most basic purpose, which in this case is effective and delightful communication.Dory is a small sign that, like many E Ink displays, is easy on the eyes because it doesn’t use bright lighting. You control what the sign displays through a free iOS or Android app that doesn’t force you to share your email or name to use it. The app has clear sections for editing the header text, main text, and footer text, adding an image, and choosing a background. It also allows more than one person to make changes to the display and communicates to the sign through Bluetooth.A screenshot of the Dory Sign app. Changes made to text, the image, and background appear in the preview image in real-time.Credit:
Scharon Harding/DoryA screenshot of the Dory Sign app. Changes made to text, the image, and background appear in the preview image in real-time.Credit:
Scharon Harding/DoryYou can upload your own image or background, but the app comes with a decent range of preloaded images, like animals, flowers, and illustrations, and preloaded backgrounds, including ones that look like brush strokes or marble and more detailed ones, like a landscape. You don’t have to spend a lot of time designing the sign, but if you want to get creative, the app has six different typefaces for text and sliders for text size, line height, letter spacing, and text color (which makes text darker or lighter).The sign can only display one image, though. And while transferring your preferred text, image, and background is simple enough with the app, your phone has to be pretty close to the sign for it to work. You also have to press the power button every time you want to change the display. This can be tedious, especially if you have the sign mounted to a wall. To be fair, though, manually changing a regular sign also requires you to get close to and touch the display.The E Ink screen doesn’t lend itself to vibrant imagery. Instead, it’s a more passive display that doesn’t call for attention, yet clearly communicates with distinct detail in its text and images.The “House party” background by ANTI that’s included in the app.Scharon Harding/ANTIThe “House party” background by ANTI that’s included in the app.Scharon Harding/ANTIThe “Marble Dark” background by UK artist Nigel Hoare with the “Couples Dinner” image by Norweigan artist Frederik Skavian. Both are included in the Dory Sign app.Scharon Harding/Nigel Hoare/Frederik SkavianThe “Marble Dark” background by UK artist Nigel Hoare with the “Couples Dinner” image by Norweigan artist Frederik Skavian. Both are included in the Dory Sign app.Scharon Harding/Nigel Hoare/Frederik SkavianThe “Peak in Gimmelwald, CH” background by American artist Chris Herath that’s included in the app, plus some text.Scharon Harding/Chris HerathThe “Peak in Gimmelwald, CH” background by American artist Chris Herath that’s included in the app, plus some text.Scharon Harding/Chris HerathThe “Marble Dark” background by UK artist Nigel Hoare with the “Couples Dinner” image by Norweigan artist Frederik Skavian. Both are included in the Dory Sign app.Scharon Harding/Nigel Hoare/Frederik SkavianThe “Peak in Gimmelwald, CH” background by American artist Chris Herath that’s included in the app, plus some text.Scharon Harding/Chris HerathDory Sign’s makers claim gadget can last for 15 yearsAt $149, the Dory Sign is expensive for a small display. However, you may be able to extract that much value from it over the years. Dory claims that the sign only uses power when it’s changing what’s on the display.