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Main Content
An Electronic Version Of Paper That's Easy On The Eye
The ultimate hand-held device
by Naoimh Reilly
Even though electronic paper is an important invention with immense promise, it has been overlooked in the last couple of years due to the rising popularity of other hand-held devices. Electronic paper was invented in 1974, by an employee from Xerox Palo Alto Research Center as a rotating image used for displays on computer screens. Its true potential is only now beginning to be realised.
Researchers realise that people print off documents from computers to read them with greater ease. And scientists have tried to find an electronic device that allows people to read with the same ease but without the waste.
Electronic paper is still a work in progress. There have been issues concerning how to display colours and how to create a medium thin and flexible enough to store images without any power consumption. Electronic paper needs to be readable in direct sunlight and needs to have high picture quality and good contrast. It should also reflect light and be inexpensive. So far it has been difficult to adapt electronic paper for e-books as it takes a while to load new images.
When these issues are addressed an e-paper revolution could outshine the printing press revolution. Children could store all their textbooks on one piece of e-paper, and a traveler could store thousands of books in his or her pocket.
Electronic paper has the potential to make real paper obsolete. It could replace books, newspapers, advertising and even menus. Unlike computers and e-book readers, electronic paper does not strain the eye. It can be read in ambient light, and looks almost identical to ordinary paper. Information can be downloaded from an internal memory chip and may eventually be used for newspapers, magazines, email, web browsing, labels, billboards and much more. It may become the ultimate hand-held device.
Although its concept seems to be environmentally friendly there are concerns about how e-paper can be disposed of safely or recycled. Some think that e-paper will have a short life span when the hype wears off.