IP: The Reinvention of Paper

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: "Robert Raisch" <raisch () internautics com>
To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: IP: The Reinvention of Paper


(If commercially viable and the time it takes to change a single "dot" can
be made as fast or faster than current LCD displays, Alan Kay's dream of the
DynaBook may be closer to reality than we imagine.  And ironically, it also
comes from PARC.  </rr>)


> From Scientific American, September 1998:


Twenty years ago Nicholas K. Sheridon got his big idea, the kind that
scientists--if they are talented and fortunate--get just once or twice in a
career. Sheridon hit on a way to draw images electronically that would be
far more portable than heavy cathode-ray tubes, far cheaper than
liquid-crystal panels. In theory, his invention could bring to digital
displays many of the advantages of paper. They would be thin and flexible
yet durable. They would consume only tiny amounts of power yet would hold
images indefinitely. They could be used for writing as well as reading, and
they could be reused millions of times. Yet they would be as cheap as fine
stationery. Sheridon named his idea Gyricon, and he applied for and received
a patent on it.


<snip>


Sheridon has demonstrated that the Gyricon material remains stable after
more than two years and three million erasures. His group has built displays
at resolutions of up to 220 dots per inch (200 percent finer than most LCDs)
and sizes up to a foot square. "We would like to get higher resolution and
better whiteness," Sheridon admits. "But we know how to do that: make the
balls smaller and pack them more closely."


For certain applications, such as large commercial signs, the technology
appears to be only a few years from market. Gyricon displays might find
their way into laptop and handheld computers soon after that. "It would
probably allow you to run a laptop for six months on a few AA batteries,"
Sheridon says, because the device requires neither a backlight nor constant
refreshing, as LCDs do.


Full Story: http://www.sciam.com/1998/0998issue/0998techbus1.html

--
Rob Raisch, Online Technology Evangelist <http://www.raisch.com/>


"He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because
he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god."
(Aristotle, 'Politics')