Flash drives have evolved significantly over the past few years. There was a time when 64MB of space in a bulky USB package was considered an achievement, and yet now an individual drive can hold upwards of 64GB while being less than half an inch in length. IntelliPaper looks to take the thickness (or thinness) of flash drives to the next level.

The idea is what it sounds like: a USB storage device made on paper. With the help of IntelliPaper, you can send paper thin flash drives in the mail alongside business cards, invitations, gifts and more. The company behind the product recently created a website www.intellipaper.info, and is selling inserts and handouts for $0.50/unit. Although the storage on these drives only ranges from 8 to 32 MB, that should be plenty of room for attaching files, images, and even small lower-quality video files.

While such small amounts of storage space aren’t that practical in most situations, it is just another proof of how far we’ve come storage technology in general. Imagine what future storage methods will look like in another 5 to 10 years. Of course with the growing importance of cloud storage, the idea of physical storage might soon be a thing of the past. What do you think of IntelliPaper, like the idea or do you feel its small storage size severely limits its usefulness?

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The proposed e-paper uses electrowetting (a process of moving colored pigments from pixel to pixel using electronic charges) on a paper substrate. Electrowetting consumes lesser power and outperforms the present day E-ink electrophoretic screens in terms of better color, faster response times and video capability.

Firms such as Liquavista and Plastic Logic already are in possession of similar technology, but they employ electrowetting on the surface of glass instead of paper. The researchers at Cincinnati claim that their model offers the same results on paper and at the same time provides greater flexibility at reduced cost.

“One of the main goals of e-paper is to replicate the look and feel of actual ink on paper. We have, therefore, investigated the use of paper as the perfect substrate for EW devices to accomplish e-paper on paper,” claim researchers Steckl and Kim. “In general, this is an elegant method for reducing device complexity and cost, resulting in one-time-use devices that can be totally disposed after use.”

For best results, the EW process involves a specific grade of paper with a particular surface coating, roughness, thickness, water uptake and a precise contact angle at which the electrowetted material is applied to the paper support. Quite obviously, the industrial model of the process is not making its debut anytime sooner than three or five years. Electrowetted glass, on the other hand, may appear sometime in the next year itself.

Source:  University of Cincinnati Press Release

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