Bendable computer

Queen's University team designs bendable computer that it sees replacing paper. A research team at Queen's University has entered the race to slim down tablets and smartphones with a plastic, flexible prototype that's just about paper thin. The Kingston, Ont.-based school's Human Media Lab has unveiled a type of e-paper technology nicknamed the Paper Phone, which is described as a bendable iPhone.The device measures in at 9.5 centimeters diagonally and its electronics are housed in a thin, flexible film that can be rolled up. It has a grayscale E Ink screen — which looks like the display on Amazon's Kindle e-reader — and has a few applications that can make phone calls, play music, read eBooks and maps.

Rather than using buttons or touch screen controls, the plastic device responds to different bends. Commands are triggered by bending the corners of the device, or rolling the right edge backward or forward. Users can also use a stylus to write on the screen.

As technology evolves and gets cheaper, a high-resolution color screen capable of playing video would be integrated into the device, as well as some touch screen controls, says creator Roel Vertegaal.
While he admits that the technology would likely need at least five to 10 years to go mass market in a sophisticated way, he boldly claims the research team is onto a game-changing technology.
"It's a replacement for the computer as we know it, it's going to change everything," Vertegaal says.
While the prototype cost about $7,000 to make, he imagines they could be cheaply mass produced in a few years.And because the technology would eventually be so inexpensive, consumers and businesses could conceivably own multiple e-paper sheets in different sizes — including huge desk-covering displays— and have them stacked on their desks or in a bag. Users could choose to use just one sheet, or multitask with a pile of electronic paper.

Eventually, the devices will also be designed to fold, Vertegaal says, so you could carry around a huge screen that neatly folds into a shirt pocket. But the Queen's researchers have competition in the development of e-paper type products. Arizona State University has partnered with the likes of Boeing, HP and Lockheed Martin in researching similar technology and is expected to conduct a test sometime this year with the U.S. Army.