Electronic Paper: Re-Defining Print Media for the 21st Century

Picture it: paper-thin flexible sheets, no larger than your standard 8.5" x 11" document, that display dynamic content: moving text, rotating pictures, video clips and links pointing directly to website pages. It's a concept that's not far fetched: electronic paper already exists, and is under heavy development to perform all of the functions mentioned above!

Electronic paper, also called "e-paper", is a sheet of thin plastic - no thicker than a standard magazine page - housing thousands of particles no larger than the diameter of a single hair. The particles respond to electrical charges to change content on the page itself. The electronic paper itself reflects light, much like your common piece of paper, making it readable in direct light, as well. Electronic paper will make the paper mill industry a thing of the past - how it will respond and adapt to this technology truly is the question!

There will come a time where people on the subway will be browsing newspapers whose advertisements are animating right on the page. Headlines scroll by like a Times Square marquee sign. Pages turn by simply wrinkling the upper right-hand corner of the page, as it dynamically displays the content on page two. As the subway car goes through a tunnel, the bright lights from within the tunnel flicker across the inside of the subway car - yet, the electronic papers in the readers' hands becomes no less visible under the bright light.
This isn't a scene from a sci-fi movie - it's a soon-to-come reality, where paperless print media rules, and the daily news becomes a fully interactive media portal, with implications for internet connectivity, as well.

It's projected that the cost of electronic paper production will be so low in the early 2010's, that it will be disposable.

(left: Spielberg's Minority Report depiction of animated, interactive newspapers is not far fetched)

Electronic paper utilizes Electrophoretic Display (EPD) technology, where an electronic field manipulates the display itself. E-paper is composed of two sheets of electrode paper, with a layer of liquid polymer in between them. That middle layer contains hundreds of e-ink capsules, best described as microscopic spheres that are half white and half black. When an electric field is applied to the electronic paper, the spheres shift, accordingly. This creates the actual image that you see on the surface of the electronic paper.

These tiny spheres can be further separated into regions, or pixels, which are then used to create images on the surface of the electronic paper. The spheres within their pixel boundaries are strategically manipulated to create complex images.

Electronic Paper is currently being researched, developed, engineered or sponsored by the following companies: Fuji Xerox/Gyricon, E Ink, Fujitsu, LG Philips, Hitachi Maxell, Sony, Bridgestone, NTT DoCoMo, Plastic Logic, and Cisco Systems.

Yes, it is already in existence on the consumer market - albeit, not yet as a stand alone sheet of paper. Electronic Paper technology is currently being used by e-book readers. An e-book reader is a handheld device (much like a Palm Pilot, only bigger), which lets you read an entire book, newspaper or magazine on a single-screen tablet. You can download the books or issues through several online stores.

Currently, e-books only display in black and white. Think of it like the early days of the Nintendo Game Boy, with its green and black screen...and then, think about the PlayStation Portable, and how much it has evolved from those early days. This is the evolution we'll be seeing in the next 5 years, with electronic paper.

Electronic paper isn't simply limited to print applications. The technology has also been utilized by watch manufacturer Seiko to develop the a revolutionary e-paper powered watch. These e-paper watches were released in limited edition, and were never mass-produced for the consumer market.

The first Seiko e-paper watch was introduced in 2005. In 2006, Seiko released the Spectrum SVRD001 for men for approximately $2,250. A third model, for women, was released in April of 2007, with a steep price tag of $4,200.