Scientists at the University of Cincinnati have come up with a way to make cheap disposable e-readers on ordinary paper. Digital Trends today reported that the technology involved putting current through paper which would allow you to use it as a normal e-reader but on actual paper. This was developed by Andrew Steckl along with UC doctoral student Duk Young Kim.
In their experiments, Steckl showed how paper can be used as a flexible material for an electrowetting device. Electrowetting is a process where electric current is sent to million of tiny droplets within a display to form images.
Steckl said that he wanted to eventually have something that would look like paper but would work and behave like a computer monitor. He said that this kind of epaper would be cheap and will offer full-color display. The process of electrowetting is found to be 10 times faster than E Ink and could produce refresh rates high enough to play moving video.
It may be another three to five years before electrowetting e-paper will make its first commercial appearance.