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First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed

Al writes "The first touch-screen flexible e-paper has been developed by a team from Arizona State University and E-Ink (the company that makes the technology for Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader). Jann Kaminski and colleagues at ASU's Flexible Display Center say the main challenge is that most touch-screen technologies do not respond well to being flexed. So they used an inductive screen, which relies on a magnetized styluses to induce a field in a sensing layer at the back of the display. The first adopters for the technology are likely to be the US Army. Watch a video of the device being tested."

9 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Failure on video! by Lumpy · · Score: 1, Informative

    notice how a row and column goes dead after the flexibility demonstration.

    Still very neat demo of the first stage prototype.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Failure on video! by RMingin · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually not, that row and column are light from the get-go, rewind and rewatch. I'm also not sure, but that could be a reflection.

      --
      The preceding comment is my own, and in no way construes an opinon of the Emperor of Mankind.
  2. Magnetic stylus != touch screen by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is a growing perception that touch means touch - using your finger. Using an inert stylus (like Windows Mobile devices) is a very poor second. But having to use a special purpose magnetic stylus is a FAIL.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
  3. Re:sure the display is flexible, but the backlight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    e-ink displays have no back lights. That thing in the back was likely the magnetic sensor.

  4. Re:Sounds cool by camperdave · · Score: 2, Informative

    How about the awesomeness of replacing that stupid projector screen and projector with one of these?

    If you're worried about casting a shadow on the scree while interacting with the projection, might I suggest that you drive the projector with a data tablet and just sit comfortably off to the side. That will work a lot better than cramming 50+ people around a palm pilot sized display.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  5. Re:I still don't get it by jack2000 · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm having the idea of a scroll which you can unroll, it would act like an e-book reader/newspaper/phone whatever and with the touch screen part this sounds alot like the stuff they had in The Red planet(2000) movie!

  6. Re:Sounds cool by Rubedo · · Score: 2, Informative

    -Robustness. For field work a display that is inherently bendable is potentially less likely to break.

    This is useful not only for field work, but also for day to day work as well. My Iliad screen cracked just by putting it the pouch on the back of the seat in front of me on an airplane. I thought that the E-reader from Plastic Logic (http://www.plasticlogic.com/) was supposed to be flexible, though.

  7. Re:Sounds cool by Feanturi · · Score: 2, Informative

    Wall-mounted, but in a roll-up arrangement like current projector screens. The advantage there being that you can roll it up and move it from room to room (or offsite to a trade show, etc) as needed. When rolled up, the casing would also provide protection while in transit. For day-to-day use in the same room, you might want to roll it up from time to time to expose something on the wall behind it, such as a whiteboard, or other type of bulletin board.

  8. Re:Sounds cool by The+Grim+Reefer2 · · Score: 3, Informative

    "bended"? C'mon, I know /. is the home of the "offline illiterate", but "bended"?

    While "bended" is archaic, it's still grammatically correct.