Interactive paper sounds exciting
“The first generation of paper was for display, like books,” says Mikael Gulliksson, a researcher at Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden, “the second for packaging, and the third for hygiene - we are investigating what the fourth might be.”
Gulliksson and colleagues think “paper four”, as they call it, will be interactive. Prototype billboards currently on display at the university show how that might be possible.
The paper surfaces of the 2 meter high billboards respond to users’ touch by playing clips from music albums, or spoken dialogue from a comedian. It works well and should be used to make learning new languages easier by using vision, hearing and touch together.
“The result looks and feels like paper but has electronic, interactive features,” says Gulliksson. Changing a display is as simple as removing the two outer paper layers, and adding new ones that also connect to the power supply and electronics.
In future, it may be possible to integrate all the electronics onto the paper surface by printing on semiconducting polymers (see Goodbye wires and silicon, hello plastic chips). “Those technologies are a long way off,” says Gulliksson, who is more interested in what can be done with paper right now.
Having successfully demonstrated the billboard prototypes, they are moving onto investigating how the technology could be used on a smaller scale. “We are interested in scaling the technology down to produce interactive packaging for products like chocolates,” he told New Scientist.
Quickly bookmark "Interactive paper sounds exciting" via:
