Glossary: Roll up displays

This is a radical concept in the way that origami electronics is radical in leading the way to completely new product concepts based on versatility that can only be provided by printed electronics. For example, one day, even the tiny box of ointment may have a sprung moving colour display that is pulled out to show instructions and other information scrolling up on its surface. After consulting it you let go and it curls back into position. All low enough in cost to be disposable.

Recently, the US Army gave $50 million to Arizona State University to develop thin computer screens that could be rolled or folded up to go into a soldier's pocket, for example to give a real time map of a battlefield. The US Army also granted $2 million to Universal Display Corporation to develop a printed display that could be unrolled from a pen like communications device. As in the civil arena, these ideas are for radical change, not incremental improvement in what went before.

 

See the IDTechEx report An Introduction to Printed Electronics