Flexible, roll-up digital screens capable of displaying full colour images are just three to five years away, according to a research firm behind the technology…
The Flexible Display Center (FDC) is an initiative funded by the US Army in conjunction with a collective of technology firms, including PC manufacturer Hewlett-Packard. The project aims to bring flexible digital displays to the military, with plans to create consumer devices further down the track.
For an iPad-like tablet to become flexible, it will take more than just a flexible display. Keep in mind all the rest of what goes into such a device, like the camera that everyone complained was not in Version 1. Speakers. USB and audio jacks. Various control buttons. Battery. Not to mention all the chips and circuitry inside. It’s a bit misleading to hold up a bit of polymer display and describe it as being similar to a tablet. Like a sheet of paper is similar to a television set.
I suspect that when flexible displays do become viable options in consumer electronics, that electronics will be fairly simple stuff initially. Like an e-reader without all the additionally bells and whistles of a full tablet. In fact, the point would be that it slides into the media niche of paper more than the niche of computers.
Then again, once the technology is developed to produce flexible digital displays, applying it to other digital components might not be far behind.
For we media types, the challenge is to envision how that kind of development changes the environment at the intersection of journalism, technology and lifestyle where we work.
