Philips Talks Up Color-Changing E-Skin for Gadgets

Posted 12/10/2009 at 2:44pm | by Bart Salisbury

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Technology never ceases to amaze. Consider e-paper: a thin plastic substrate overlaid with technological doohickies and thingamajigs that can display an image with reflected light while using little to no power. The only drawback is the ability to display shades of a single color--usually grey. Philips research is reporting that monochrome e-paper is no more. They’ve figured out how to infuse different colors into a single layer, while controlling each color separately, taking e-paper to a whole new multi-chromatic level.

This new variant of e-paper Philips calls “e-skin”. E-skin possesses the same inherent flexibility of e-paper. And, because of its low energy requirements, it is readily applied to mobile electronics. Philips speculates that e-skin could be used on cell phones, allowing them to be easily “changed to match your outfit, mood or environment.” They could also be used for portable gaming systems--downloadable skins to match a game’s look and feel.

Every day, it seems, we creep one step closer to realizing the reality of Zaphod’s Joo Janta 200 Super-Chromatic Peril Sensitive Sunglasses.

Image Credit: Philips Research