SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Thirty years in the making, and about to break through commercially into the retail sign market with a display technology offering by Gyricon LLC of Ann Arbor, Mich., electronic paper stands to revolutionize the way written communication is transmitted, displayed, updated and retained.
United Press International talked to e-paper expert Yu Chen about advances in the field and their future implications. Chen, principal engineer at Kovio Inc., a nanotechnology company in Sunnyvale, Calif., captured widespread attention last May when he reported in the British journal Nature the development of an electronic-ink display screen just three times the width of a human hair, flexible enough to be rolled into a tube just 4 millimeters across and viewable from almost any angle.
At the time, Chen was a chief scientist at E Ink Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., a leading developer and marketer of electronic-ink technology for paper-like displays. The company expects to begin marketing its first e-paper product in 2004, in the form of electronic readers.
Q. The first attempts at "electric paper," as it was originally dubbed, came in the early 1970s in response to the poor visual quality of the computer displays available in those days. What is the current status of electronic-paper research and development?
A. E-paper has become a hot research topic in recent years. Scientific advancement in new materials and electronic devices has taken e-paper from science fiction to almost a reality. There are companies in Europe, the U.S. and Asia that are racing to deliver commercial products. Among them E Ink Corp. and Gyricon are the two front-runners. There are also other companies trying to develop e-paper using various technologies, such as EDD, Cholesteric LCD, electrochromic, MEMS, etc.
Q. When might we see some practical/commercial applications?
A. We will see commercial application in electronic books using a rigid substrate probably within months. A commercial product of a truly paper-like, flexible display will take probably two to three more years.
Q. What kind of markets, and how large, might e-paper technologies attract? What kind of revenues might such a market(s) command?
A. It depends on the cost of the whole system. If it is cheap enough, it may attract a very large market. It is hard to predict the revenues now since e-paper is still at its early stage.
Q. Who might be the major users of the technology?
A. People who like high-tech gadgets or who travel a lot. It may take a while for the general public to accept the new media and change their reading habits.
Q. What do you envision as the future of electronic paper? Where do you see this technology in five or 10 years?
A. I expect that e-paper will be in our daily lives in 10 years.
Q. What impact will this technology have on our lives?
A. You can access information anywhere, anytime using something that can be folded into your pocket or be sewn on your clothes. It will have a large impact on how our society distributes and accesses information, plus a large impact on environmental protection. (Like saving trees)
Q. What do you see as e-paper's potential uses?
A. Electronic newspapers, books, smart ID cards, wearable computer screens and TVs.
Q. How do you envision the e-paper of the future? Might it replace standard paper, i.e., for writing, books, newspapers, magazines, documents, graphics, etc.? What new products might this technology spawn?
A. For electronic books, our ultimate goal is that a reader only has to buy one copy of an electronic book -- the "last book" -- which could be converted into her/his desired newspapers, magazines or books, using a wireless receiver, an Internet connection or its internal memory. There are also applications in smart ID cards,
wearable computer screens and TVs.
Q. What have been the major stumbling blocks to developing commercial electronic paper?
A. There are two major challenges for realizing paper-like displays. The first is to develop an electronically controllable display medium, which has the optical qualities of regular ink on paper. Various technologies have been developed, such as E Ink, Gyricon, EDD, Cholesteric LCD, electrochromic, MEMS and electrowetting.
The second challenge is to develop flexible circuits on very thin substrates to control each individual display pixel (We call it "to address a pixel" in display jargon). To control high-resolution displays, one must use "active-matrix addressing" circuits, which are built using transistors made from thin films. My Nature article (Vol. 423, page 136) has overcome the second challenge.
Q. What key challenges remain before commercially viable e-paper might be developed?
A. Develop high-volume production methods to produce those technologies and minimize the cost of production to make them affordable and competitive.
Q. What message would you like our readers to take home about this work?
A. E-paper is coming. When the time comes, throw your paperbacks in the recycle bin, break down your psychological barrier, buy an e-book and keep it with you all the time. It will be the last book you will ever need.
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