An anonymous reader writes "Fujitsu today announced their joint development of the world's first film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory function. The new electronic paper features vivid color images that are unaffected even when the screen is bent, and features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image without the need for electricity. The thin and flexible electronic paper uses very low power to change screen images, thereby making it ideal for displaying information or advertisements in public areas as a type of new electronic media that can be handled as easily as paper. The jointly developed electronic paper will be showcased at Fujitsu Forum 2005, to be held July 14 and 15 at Tokyo International Forum."
by Anonymous Coward
on Friday July 15 2005, @02:12AM (#13070671)
the first one of you that says "minority report" gets a punch in the mouth. you can't have anything new anymore without some schmuck saying "omg minority report!" bleh.
I know it may look like parent is insulting grandparent, but this is a quote from the movie 'Demolition Man'..... http://imdb.com/title/tt0106697/ [imdb.com]
"I know it may look like parent is insulting grandparent, but this is a quote from the movie 'Demolition Man'..... http://imdb.com/title/tt0106697/ [imdb.com]"
*Ding* You have been fined one credit for spoiling the joke.
Take those expressway billboards and put up Amber Alerts on them. Instead of the dot matrix text message we have on highway overpass displays, we can do full color pictures with the child's stats. The technology allows us to easily change and remove the image when the child is found (via Wi-Fi or cellular connection to Police headquarters).
Take those expressway billboards and put up Amber Alerts on them. Instead of the dot matrix text message we have on highway overpass displays, we can do full color pictures with the child's stats. The technology allows us to easily change and remove the image when the child is found (via Wi-Fi or cellular connection to Police headquarters).
More likely: high-way ads start looking like doubleclick ads, until accidents result in a class-action suit.
The one interesting application is in cheap portable com
If they can get a large format for the paper it would be useful for design verification meetings. Where you can put a nice big piece of paper on the table and have people go through it, and update it as you like.
A screen isn't as useful for that. Because really only one or two people can go up to it and point things out, whereas large digital paper can get 8+ people around it. A screen, a projector, or an electronic white board, aren't as portable and if they aren't in the facility where you are meeting then you're out of luck.
Also digital paper will probably have a much, much higher resolution then a projection screen. We're talking DPI here of at least 75 (hopefully 600x600 at least in the future), where as a projection screen capable of 1024 pixels over 10 feet wide you have 10. So you can get much more detail to where more people can get close to it.
But what I would really like it for is for my gaming table. If it takes 2 seconds to update the entire page that covers the table (E sized would be perfect), that would make my just as a DM much better. When I set up a fight I have to get out there with the spray bottle to clean off the battle map, then spend a few minutes to draw the map. Compare it to what you have before, find that you screwed up something specifically needed that the entire scenario is about and redraw that section, find you have over spray on the water bottle, and redraw that section. It often takes about 10 minutes of game time.
Heck if it takes a minute to update a page that size I still wouldn't mind. It saves me a great deal of time, all I have to do is scan the maps into the laptop, and then have it display things. It especially gets rid of the smart ass player syndrom who gets handed the pen to draw the parts of the map that you can't reach easily.
Your story pegs my BS meter. I think you're posing a thought experiment as personal experience to make it more engaging. For one thing, "digital paper" doesn't look like paper, it's a sheet of plastic.
This will bring new meaning to a funny image I saw that had the hand-written message "I kant tipe so i rite on the screen wit a krayon"
Seriously though, I've seen enough professors accidentally write on a projector screen (instead of the whiteboard behind it) and leave a relatively permanent mark. I can only imagine how many people will accidentally jot down a quick note to later realize they just ruined a VERY expensive piece of paper...
There was a professor in our CS department, from whom I fortunately never took a class. Besides being both incompetent and insane, she was downright stupid about markers. She would start circling something on the white board while she lectured, and just keep circling it over and over again. There is still a mark on the white board from the time she used a permanent marker instead of dry-erase for that purpose.
Of course, a friend of mine once showed up for her class, and he was the only one there. She
I would love to have an e-ink display for my computer, so that I could use it to read long texts. Even if e-ink is not fast enough for GUI stuff (I guess), it might make a good secondary display on the desktop.
Where are the end-user products? The only thing I've heard of so far is the mystical ebook-reader from Sony, available in Japan only.
The only thing I've heard of so far is the mystical ebook-reader from Sony, available in Japan only.
Nothing mystical about it. I've played with one, and it's neat. The screen is wonderful. In a store it looks really good but a little washed out, since the white isn't really white and the black isn't tuly black. When you bring it out into daylight, it's amazing. Where a normal screen would be hard to read, this one just gets better instead. It really has the general feel of reading on paper, not on a screen.
Unfortunately the drawbacks are numerous as well. First, the unavoidable one: the update frequency is sedentary at best. I mean, you really wait slightly for the screen to change when you flip the "page". Not a problem for a text reader to be sure, but forget anything about animations or a normal GUI. And unfortunately, Sony's implementation of the device is screaming-defiance-at-an-uncaring-world frustrating. The case, buttons and so on feel cheap and unreliable, and the whole thing is DRM:ed to h*ll and back. Forget about easily moving your own texts to it - no, you're supposed to rent books. And the memory is paltry; about 10Mb if I remember correctly.
It's an absolutely great reader, that I will never in a million years actually buy since the execution just isn't there. If it was slightly smaller, DRM free, could display all normal formats (html, Unicode text and PDF at the least), USB2 connection, had good amount of memory and/or an CF card slot, and preferably could also work as an mp3 player and radio (there's a definite limit on the amount of gadgets I'm willing to carry) I'd get one today.
I wonder if this technology will ever be realized as a whole new way to distribute information.
It can potentially cut down on the cost of paper and ink, not to mention reduce the amount of trees being cut down for paper. I hope this idea gets heavily pursued by anyone who has the knowhow to further it.
it looks like it needs a little work in the area of color and resolution, but that's sure to come.
One thing that I think will really benefit from these reflective display technologies is classrooms and conference rooms. What I would really like to see would be a chalkboard-sized reflective display with a digitizer pen. Without dimming the lights like one would have to do with a projector (and thus lulling students to sleep), a teacher could write directly on it as well as have problems already in the computer to put up on it quickly. How much time in math classes is spent writing out problems? Word problems from all these standardized tests could be quickly thrown up on the board and the teacher could directly model how to solve them. It could really increase a teacher's efficacy as well as make their life a lot easier.
Later on, similar technologies could be built into desks (or the students could have tablets) so that the student can solve them at their desks and then the teacher could push a button and display the students' work on the board.
Sweet jesus! Now I'm going to need tiny hydrogen-based fuel cells to power my beowulf cluster of electronic papers. I think I shall call such a collection a "notepad."
I prefer printed documents because I can take quick notes, underline parts, highlight interesting/important sentences, etc. I can't study on a PDF displayed on the computer because I can't do all these things.
Now, if I had one or two A4-sized electronic paper sheets, with a touch screen on top so I can make annotations with my stylus, then I would be able to stop using dead trees for studying...
Now, if I had one or two A4-sized electronic paper sheets, with a touch screen on top so I can make annotations with my stylus, then I would be able to stop using dead trees for studying...
They already exist. They're called Tablet-PCs. I'm writing this with a stylus now on an A4-sized screen:-). I really bought mine for art, and I normally just use the keyboard, but I can scribble all over documents if I want to, and I don't have to use the fingerpad or carry a mouse:)
(Actually, while I've found that tablet-PCs are way better than normal laptops, they're still not up there with a good pencil and sheet of paper for many tasks. The dead trees will be with us for some time:-)
Imagine what something like this could do for laptop screens? Unless you're playing an FPS, a computer screen is fairly static - so updating the screen and then 0 power consumption until you do something... man oh man!
What's the refresh rate like? Can it be backlit? Having a laptop you can read in the sun might be quite nice...
what if they started making shirts with this e-paper attached on the front? change your clothes via USB.
I'm not sure how durable this stuff is, but if you put it in some sort of protective coating it should be good?
hell, I'm sure someone would start an advertising business out of it, "Wear Microsoft ads on your shirt and get paid!"
i thought flexible organic LEDs were going to be the great bendable color screens of the future. so is this somehow better than foLED? anyone care to make a quick comparison of pro's and con's?
How many years am I going to be hearing about electronic paper (or printable displays for that matter), before the damn things actually come out and I can buy them?
that's great but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:that's great but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Not Minority Report (Score:3, Funny)
Meanwhile, the rest of us wanted his wife.
Amazing! (Score:3, Funny)
But is it really useful? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Paperless office? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Paperless office? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Paperless office? (Score:5, Funny)
Thanks a lot you shit-brained, fuck-faced, ball breaking, duck fucking pain in the ass.
See you in a minute.
Parent
PARENT IS *NOT* A TROLL (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:PARENT IS *NOT* A TROLL (Score:3, Funny)
*Ding* You have been fined one credit for spoiling the joke.
Re:Paperless office? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Paperless office? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Paperless office? (Score:5, Funny)
You misspelled Montana.
Parent
Re:Paperless office? (Score:2)
>You misspelled Montana.
I'm from europe and I haven't seen a paperless toilet...
Unless you count a time in military where people where asked to dig a pit for the shit, and use the leaves.
So you are absolutely correct he made a spelling mistake. Or is from the military.
Ad's on Toilet Paper???? (Score:4, Funny)
Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:5, Insightful)
This looks great but can some people please think of better applications than advertising...
Surely Fujitsu have more exotic plans for this technology than curved posters ?
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:3, Interesting)
More likely: high-way ads start looking like doubleclick ads, until accidents result in a class-action suit.
The one interesting application is in cheap portable com
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:3, Insightful)
Instant home redecoration (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Help...(useful) ideas needed. (Score:4, Interesting)
A screen isn't as useful for that. Because really only one or two people can go up to it and point things out, whereas large digital paper can get 8+ people around it. A screen, a projector, or an electronic white board, aren't as portable and if they aren't in the facility where you are meeting then you're out of luck.
Also digital paper will probably have a much, much higher resolution then a projection screen. We're talking DPI here of at least 75 (hopefully 600x600 at least in the future), where as a projection screen capable of 1024 pixels over 10 feet wide you have 10. So you can get much more detail to where more people can get close to it.
But what I would really like it for is for my gaming table. If it takes 2 seconds to update the entire page that covers the table (E sized would be perfect), that would make my just as a DM much better. When I set up a fight I have to get out there with the spray bottle to clean off the battle map, then spend a few minutes to draw the map. Compare it to what you have before, find that you screwed up something specifically needed that the entire scenario is about and redraw that section, find you have over spray on the water bottle, and redraw that section. It often takes about 10 minutes of game time.
Heck if it takes a minute to update a page that size I still wouldn't mind. It saves me a great deal of time, all I have to do is scan the maps into the laptop, and then have it display things. It especially gets rid of the smart ass player syndrom who gets handed the pen to draw the parts of the map that you can't reach easily.
Parent
cartridges (Score:2, Insightful)
Constitution (Score:5, Funny)
This must just be news because it's color.
(This satire brought to you by Daniels, Walker, and Beam, LLP.)
Re:Constitution (Score:3, Informative)
Electronic Paper and EPIC (Score:2, Insightful)
EPIC 2014 [robinsloan.com]
Screenshot (Score:5, Informative)
At 2:19am, I just want to look at pictures.
My first thought... (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously though, I've seen enough professors accidentally write on a projector screen (instead of the whiteboard behind it) and leave a relatively permanent mark. I can only imagine how many people will accidentally jot down a quick note to later realize they just ruined a VERY expensive piece of paper...
Re:My first thought... (Score:3, Funny)
Of course, a friend of mine once showed up for her class, and he was the only one there. She
It would appear... (Score:2)
Ouch (Score:5, Funny)
Where are the e-ink products, damnit? (Score:2)
Where are the end-user products? The only thing I've heard of so far is the mystical ebook-reader from Sony, available in Japan only.
Re:Where are the e-ink products, damnit? (Score:4, Informative)
Nothing mystical about it. I've played with one, and it's neat. The screen is wonderful. In a store it looks really good but a little washed out, since the white isn't really white and the black isn't tuly black. When you bring it out into daylight, it's amazing. Where a normal screen would be hard to read, this one just gets better instead. It really has the general feel of reading on paper, not on a screen.
Unfortunately the drawbacks are numerous as well. First, the unavoidable one: the update frequency is sedentary at best. I mean, you really wait slightly for the screen to change when you flip the "page". Not a problem for a text reader to be sure, but forget anything about animations or a normal GUI. And unfortunately, Sony's implementation of the device is screaming-defiance-at-an-uncaring-world frustrating. The case, buttons and so on feel cheap and unreliable, and the whole thing is DRM:ed to h*ll and back. Forget about easily moving your own texts to it - no, you're supposed to rent books. And the memory is paltry; about 10Mb if I remember correctly.
It's an absolutely great reader, that I will never in a million years actually buy since the execution just isn't there. If it was slightly smaller, DRM free, could display all normal formats (html, Unicode text and PDF at the least), USB2 connection, had good amount of memory and/or an CF card slot, and preferably could also work as an mp3 player and radio (there's a definite limit on the amount of gadgets I'm willing to carry) I'd get one today.
Parent
Real World Applications (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Real World Applications (Score:2)
Despite all efforts we're still waiting for the real products, at least ones we could use at home.
nifty (Score:5, Insightful)
One thing that I think will really benefit from these reflective display technologies is classrooms and conference rooms. What I would really like to see would be a chalkboard-sized reflective display with a digitizer pen. Without dimming the lights like one would have to do with a projector (and thus lulling students to sleep), a teacher could write directly on it as well as have problems already in the computer to put up on it quickly. How much time in math classes is spent writing out problems? Word problems from all these standardized tests could be quickly thrown up on the board and the teacher could directly model how to solve them. It could really increase a teacher's efficacy as well as make their life a lot easier.
Later on, similar technologies could be built into desks (or the students could have tablets) so that the student can solve them at their desks and then the teacher could push a button and display the students' work on the board.
Cleaning? (Score:3, Funny)
OY! (Score:5, Funny)
Good, now add a touch screen on top of it (Score:2)
Now, if I had one or two A4-sized electronic paper sheets, with a touch screen on top so I can make annotations with my stylus, then I would be able to stop using dead trees for studying...
Re:Good, now add a touch screen on top of it (Score:5, Informative)
They already exist. They're called Tablet-PCs. I'm writing this with a stylus now on an A4-sized screen
(Actually, while I've found that tablet-PCs are way better than normal laptops, they're still not up there with a good pencil and sheet of paper for many tasks. The dead trees will be with us for some time
Parent
Notebook screens? (Score:2)
What's the refresh rate like? Can it be backlit? Having a laptop you can read in the sun might be quite nice...
There are possibilities (Score:3, Interesting)
would this work for customizable clothing? (Score:2, Interesting)
what about foleds? (Score:2)
Ponder.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, great! (Score:3, Insightful)
Just what we need: more spam. As if people today didn't suffer enough advertising already.
Re:The First Display (Score:4, Funny)
I was thinking a "Hello World!" was in order.
Parent
Re:Much better uses (Score:2)