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How is this better than the already-in-trials Cypak box, which also reminds the patient to take the pills, registers the time/date taken per pill, transfers results over RFID to doctors, etc, has the added advantage of looking exactly like an ordinary pharma blister pack?

Even better is to integrate the PIN pad onto the card itself, and use encrypted communication between the card and the authenticating server. The card reader would just see encrypted traffic.

Also works against hostile ATMs.

A solution like this exists, see Cypak PIN-on-Card

.. accessorize my Paper PC (ZDNet announcment)

No new technology seems to be involved, some comments would lead one to believe that there was some inkjet printed circuitry involved and that it is a paper computer. Not so, I could see no evidence of this.


You couldn't have looked very long:

http://www.cypak.com/index.php?a=tech&b=printable& page=tech_printable

"Printable circuits
Using printable, conductive ink based on non-toxic carbon powder, electronic circuits and antennas can be printed directly onto low cost substrates, such as paper, cardboard or plastic.

By forming electronic circuit lines and monitoring if they are opened or closed, printable circuits can be used to detect events, such as a broken seal, an open lid or damaged packaging. This includes the formation of pressure sensitive areas which can be used as key switches in an electronic questionnaire. The circuits attach to Cypak Electronic Module (CEM) where events are recorded and time stamped.

In the same production step as circuits our robust and extremely low cost antenna can be printed in the form of patches the size of a credit card.

Our know-how in printing circuits on folded paper enables multiple form factors, such as boxes, wallets, books etc. "

The technology is not new, they have developed it since 1996 and won a major prize in 1999 for it. What *is* new is that now apprearently it is mature and cheap enough to start using for real.

They have started to get some license agreements from big companies.

8-bit microprocessor
32kBytes non-volatile FLASH memory with >10 years of data retention.
2kBytes Static RAM

I think they better first check out the so-called "Smarter Card" from Cypak a Swedish firm that has a card with embedded CPU and RF, and a keypad built onto the card which requires the user to enter a PIN to validate use of the card. Seems to me that Cypak already has most of the relevant technology.

You raise good points. I sincerely hope that the idea of electronic parking tickets that they floated on the website is replaced in most cities by an entirely software solution. (Email you your parking fines. no more paper tickes on your windscreen which the local hoods can steal for pranks)

On the other hand, what if you use pressure sensative paper as the worlds's most portable scanner? Write your meeting notes on normal paper, with the smart scanner paper underneath like that old fashioned pressure activated carbon paper that people sometimes use to duplicate reciepts.

the pressure sensative paper stays blank. At the end of the meeting, file your handwritten notes and plug in your pressure sensative mat to your laptop/desktop/whatever. the dozens of pages that you stored in it are copied across, and the handwriting recognition goes through in a few minutes. presto!

(if you're really adventureous, you could get the pad to have a built in wifi antenna. then you'd never have to leave the meeting. when you run out of paper, just use an inkless stylus on the pad directly, and hope you remember where you've written... or maybe make the top layer smart colour change paper.)

Might be handy for those business people who don't want heavy laptop bags or bulge inducing pdas ruining the line of a good suit. (on the other hand, most people like that who I know just get their PAs to carry all their junk for them. oh well. maybe the new tech might still sell on early adopter chic.)

From the FAQ:
"...our COM/ActiveX interface component can be used to get data from the ECP directly to Excel for example. Some VB scripting is required to do the plumbing with the specific customer application."

So until somebody writes the requisite API, your application has to be Windows-based to read patient data from these packages. I called that ironic because their site is apparently on a Linux box.

Rafe Needleman discovered an interesting young Swedish company which is
printing really cheap chips. Here are some excerpts of his article,
"Coming Soon: Printed Computers."

The company, Cypak , has technology to mount
a very small microprocessor, which it created, on paper (or inside a credit
card), as well as a technique to print sensors, switches, and very short-range
antennae on the same paper, using special conductive inks.

Here is one possible application designed for drug trials.

Drug trials need data about how and when subjects consume the drugs
being tested. In this application, a pill pack registers when individual pills
are popped out of their plastic bubbles; it then can beep and ask the
user a question like, "Are you feeling better today? Press Yes or No."
(The answer buttons are on the pack itself.) When the patient visits the doctor,
the package is placed on a Cypak reader and the data is downloaded to the
physician's computer.

Certus, a drug-testing company, has just begun testing Cypak's
technology. Compared with logging and "compliance" products that use more
traditional computer parts and sensors, the Cypak technology is less expensive.
The chips embedded in the paper drug packages cost only a buck or two, and the
scanners that read the data from the used packages are inexpensive as well --
less than $10, Cypak CEO Jakob Ehrensvärd says. Also, the data is more reliable
than the logs that patients might keep.

Rafe Needleman is quite optimistic about Cypak's future.

It's clear that more and more items, like shipping boxes, eventually
will be able to monitor themselves, and that an increasing number of devices
will support some kind of authentication feature. Cypak-like technology will
play a part in this.

Cypak's technology currently costs a dollar or more per unit. That's
pretty cheap for a computer, but still too expensive for everyday products.
Still, there are solid industry-specific applications for this technology --
enough, most likely, to make a success out of Cypak.

More information about Cypaq's intelligent pharmaceutical packaging can be
found at their Electronic
Compliance Packaging webpage.

Rafe Needleman discovered an interesting young Swedish company which is
printing really cheap chips. Here are some excerpts of his article,
"Coming Soon: Printed Computers."

The company, Cypak , has technology to mount
a very small microprocessor, which it created, on paper (or inside a credit
card), as well as a technique to print sensors, switches, and very short-range
antennae on the same paper, using special conductive inks.

Here is one possible application designed for drug trials.

Drug trials need data about how and when subjects consume the drugs
being tested. In this application, a pill pack registers when individual pills
are popped out of their plastic bubbles; it then can beep and ask the
user a question like, "Are you feeling better today? Press Yes or No."
(The answer buttons are on the pack itself.) When the patient visits the doctor,
the package is placed on a Cypak reader and the data is downloaded to the
physician's computer.

Certus, a drug-testing company, has just begun testing Cypak's
technology. Compared with logging and "compliance" products that use more
traditional computer parts and sensors, the Cypak technology is less expensive.
The chips embedded in the paper drug packages cost only a buck or two, and the
scanners that read the data from the used packages are inexpensive as well --
less than $10, Cypak CEO Jakob Ehrensvärd says. Also, the data is more reliable
than the logs that patients might keep.

Rafe Needleman is quite optimistic about Cypak's future.

It's clear that more and more items, like shipping boxes, eventually
will be able to monitor themselves, and that an increasing number of devices
will support some kind of authentication feature. Cypak-like technology will
play a part in this.

Cypak's technology currently costs a dollar or more per unit. That's
pretty cheap for a computer, but still too expensive for everyday products.
Still, there are solid industry-specific applications for this technology --
enough, most likely, to make a success out of Cypak.

More information about Cypaq's intelligent pharmaceutical packaging can be
found at their Electronic
Compliance Packaging webpage.