Official News - page 10

REAL LIFE NEWS: TALKING PAPER THREATENS OUR PEACE AND QUIET

by Hazed

Scientists have come up with another invention guaranteed to annoy: talking paper. Researchers from Mid Sweden University have constructed an interactive paper billboard that will play a recorded sound when a user touches it. Oh joy! Now we don't just have to put up with annoying mobile phones and too-loud iPods, but advertising posters are going to harangue us as well.

The prototype display uses conductive inks, which are sensitive to pressure, and printed speakers. The key is a layer of digital paper that is embedded with electronics. When pressure is applied to the conductive inks, information is relayed to a micro-computer that contains the audio files. Sound then streams out of the printed speakers which are formed from more layers of conductive inks that sit over an empty cavity to form a diaphragm. This functional layer is sandwiched between a thick sheet of extra-strong cardboard and another sheet of paper which is printed with the billboard's design.

The researcher's display model is a mock-up of a holiday advert, and when you put your hand on a postcard that shows a picture of a beach, you can hear a very brief description of that beach. Advertisers are going to love this!

And that's not all. The researchers are thinking about how it could be used in product packaging. They said: "One interesting idea would be to use it on cigarette packaging, so instead of having a written message warning you of danger to your health, you would have a spoken one." Great, we're going to be nagged by the things we buy. If that happens I can see that cigarette cases will come back into fashion again!

Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page