Paper 2.0 |
Paper with Attitude
Alright, so maybe the branding people could take a crack at the name and slogans before this product idea enters the realm of reality. But regardless, the future of trees around the world could be at stake here. Paper is being digitized whether we like it or not, and the potential is awesome. E-paper (from eink) is what I’m mainly referring to here, and already there are some pretty good ideas as to what new applications it could have.
From Epaper.org.uk
- Intelligent shelf labelling systems.
- Message boards and posters.
E-signs are widely seen as one of the first e-paper applications planned for market launch. They provide an electronic alternative to the paper labels that supermarkets use on shelves, for example to show product prices. They are very simple devices and consist of an electronic display panel, an energy source and a receiver that is radio-controlled via a central computer. These electronic signs have the advantage that they do not have to be changed by hand and labelled, thus allowing changes to be made quickly and easily from a central computer. They can be read from any angle, require only a small amount of energy and have a life of up to six years.
There is a large potential market for electronic display devices that will the felt tip on cardboard, chalk on blackboard, or moveable magnetic character signs that are widely used in retail and service industries. With a wireless link such message boards or posters can be remotely changed and updated.
Cool. Really, my head is filled with scenes from all sorts of sci-fi movies that are now becoming reality. Wireless links to paper that can be changed at the click of a button? I’m impressed. Of course, this doesn’t actually exist yet, but there is no reason why it can’t. We’ve got 2nd generation e-paper devices coming out now, and wireless (802.11 or bluetooth or whatever) links are becoming cheap and no trouble at all. We’ve even got color e-paper now.
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The question is:
Where can we go with this?
The idea is super paper. It would be e-paper on steroids, a new kind of way to present information. And what exactly does that mean? Let me explain, lets look at e-paper a little more closely:
Epaper: some electrodes with liquid polymer capsules
So that is e-paper. Now lets add some things to make it even more potent and stack on some technology to existing e-paper devices.
Abolish Wires
One of the features of e-paper is the small amount of power it uses, and it doesn’t need power to hold an image. That means ultra long battery life. But I’ve never liked batteries, I’ve always thought we should have nuclear fission packs by now. You know, the kind that can power a car for 20 years. Batteries lose their recharge ability, and then you have to buy a new one and stuff. It’s just asking for trouble. Musings aside, they are useful, but maybe we can take them out of the equation for the better. Wireless power is the up and coming thing. Giving mobile devices the ability to recharge or be powered without a battery at all. Why not couple that with e-paper devices? No more wires, for anything. There are a couple options to make this work.
- Resonant Induction Recharging
- RF Power (By Powercast)
My current preference. This option is ready to go, proven and the Powercast has a great website. Not as robust as the above type of energy transfer, but more than effective enough for the purposes of e-paper (and soon to be defined, super paper).
MIT scientists have come up with a new idea for wireless energy transfer. None of it has been tested, but they seem confident enough. Apparently it should work up to 3 meters away from the source and power multiple units at a time. Great, only it is still on the drawing board, so to speak. But there is another option.
The Fabulous Internet
Radio controlled e-paper signs are nice, they allow a cheap, remote sign changing. But what happens when you connect something to a network like the internet? Crazy stuff, in the case of computers. People under 20 lose sleep chatting to their friends all night and people over 60 lose their grip on reality trying to understand it. So what happens when e-paper is connected to the internet? I’m almost too scared to imagine. Almost.
Signs with Information on them
Isn’t that what signs are for? Yea, but I mean year 2000 kind of information. Digitized MP3 portable document google powered folksonomic Web 2.0 interactive check-my-bank-account-online kind of information. As long as we’re displaying information, lets have some kickass content to put behind it.
At this point, this idea may be thoroughly confusing. Because throwing out a kluge of possibilities doesn’t exactly point to particular uses (i.e. It’s confusing), but it does set the stage. So lets move on to what this idea could actually be good for.
Super Paper in Hypothetical Action
The Curiously Informative Poster Ad
You see the current form of this poster at a bus stop, in a mall, or in a store window. It says “Buy me!” or “Go here!” or sometimes in the case of a big event “Look what is happening soon!”. Static, and it seems you’ve seen it 10 times today while driving. What if a poster could say a little more. Like “Go down the street 3 blocks to buy tickets for the U2 concert next week! Only 453 left!” Why not? With an internet connection and an e-paper sign, no sweat. The information on the sign could be changed by location, the number of tickets left, the date. All the little tricks people use to make web pages dynamic.
Most likely, any one unit would be rented out as ad space in the physical world, much like space on websites or television is rented out now. Systems for audience targeting would be thought up, and advertisers could rent the places and times they wanted within a city, or multiple cities. As well as change their ads at whim. A promotion for Moe’s Diner might be on display at 5pm, while an ad for the karaoke bar down the street comes on at 7, an hour before karaoke starts.
A dynamic sign isn’t just limited to the advertising world either.
- A sign on the entryway to your house, business or office that can be changed from anywhere. Maybe “Closed for repairs through Friday.”, “Sorry Fred, late at work. 20 minutes more.” or the short but classic “Out to lunch”. I’m already craving a Dashboard widget.
A physical anchor in the digital world
Want some info on the sushi place you just passed on the street? Or maybe the dance studio, or the car stereo store. You go in, ask for a menu, a schedule or a just look around, depending on the business of interest. Maybe there are posters around town for a cool new club, but you don’t want to spend the $20 cover charge to find out first hand. Either call them, ask someone who knows or find a website.
Google has done a wonderful job bringing the physical world closer to us by mapping the local phonebook to an interactive online map, but what about the other way around? Why not bring the digital world closer to us when we’re not online? Okay, create an anchor to that information something in the real world. Have a storefront sign that serves up a PDF about your restaurants menu wirelessly. To smartphones of all sorts, to laptops, to other reading devices or maybe even cars soon. Or if you are car stereo store, a product list, sales announcement or map of alternative store locations. A dance studio, your weekly schedule and teacher biographies.
Sure, you may not need a display at all to serve up this information. But how else would you know to look for that digital info floating around on the airwaves? And besides, you may be learning about said sushi place through a poster ad of the kind mentioned above, in which case you need a visual. Luckily it can all be integrated into one unit.
Tabula Rasa, as needed
Utilizing wireless power, and the fact that you don’t need power to maintain e-paper images, why ever have a battery or a cord? Just bring your display to a wireless power source and update the display as needed.
- Restaurant menus that change daily can be set in an area and changed by the click of a button on the computer each morning, then they are ready to be passed to customers.
- Information hot spots that take advantage of a certain type of e-reading device. You go near the area, and you can then choose to update your device. Museums, city tours, or your grocery list as you walk out the door.
Probably each case study here can be mixed with the other in some way, which makes things even more exciting. How would you use your super paper? Questions, comments, concerns?
