E-Ink, Electronic Paper, Gryicon, And The Future Of Delivering Information

2/6/02

For quite a while now we have been following the activities of several firms who are using new materials to create new market opportunities and the possibilities of new products (or new ways to design existing ones).  These firms are E Ink Corporation and Gyricon, a spin-off from a Xerox PARC research project into the development of electronic paper.

Both firms intrigue us because we like the idea that a light-weight, flexible material that can display text and images could ultimately be used for highly portable devices (my favorite futurist idea would be a folding book, much like a pocket handkerchief). 

In their early market endeavors, both firms have been offering changeable signage to the retail store market, for both large-scale signs that hang over displays of merchandise and smaller signs that might sit on shelves or offer pricing and other information on shelf edges.  Their charm is the fact that they can be instantly changed from a centrally controlled computer, creating sales to accommodate local conditions (snow shovels when it starts to snow, umbrellas for a rainy day), or inventory issues like too much merchandise or rapidly ripening produce. 

E Ink has emphasized a paper-like reading experience.  E Ink has also been investing in creating light-weight displays, with strategic investors and partners including TOPPAN Printing Company, Philips Components, Motorola, Inc., and Lucent Technologies.

Recently, E Ink has introduced an Ink-In-Motion design kit which lets a marketer create a flashing sign that is seemingly animated to get buyers’ attention.  The design kit lets a sign which combines a text message with a visual be created; the sign is light-weight and runs for about a year on two batteries.  The design kit is priced at $500 and is available now through the E Ink Web site at www.eink.com/iim/kit. Ink-In-Motion is commercially available through E Ink's network of certified resellers.

Gyricon remains focused on retail signage for now, with projects beginning to come on line at a number of big accounts including Macy’s in north New Jersey.  Robert Sprague, Gyricon’s vice president and Chief Technology Officer reacted to E Ink’s Ink-In-Motion announcement by stating, "We believe that a "blinking" sign has a value, which has been demonstrated many times before through LED's, mechanical POP, and other techniques. Motion or the illusion of motion has proven to have an incremental effect on customer attention. Gyricon Media has periodically considered such potential products, but currently is focusing on retailer pricing solutions." 

Nevertheless, we’d expect to see both E Ink and Gyricon offering their interesting ability to change the information content of a “page,” as technology for both displays and also for new products, yet to be imagined.

References

www.eink.com
www.parc.xerox.com/dhl/projects/gyricon/

(back to top)