1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com pays everyone and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,760 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan strictly and I'm Lauren foc Obama and Lauren Today, 4 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: I wanted to read a message that was sent to 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,079 Speaker 1: us via Twitter. Danny sent us to us and said, 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,720 Speaker 1: I have done an episode on the paper. Well, Danny, 7 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,639 Speaker 1: we we did an episode we being tech stuff in 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: general way back, yeah, back in two thousand and eight. 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: If Jonathan and Chris did an episode called how the 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: Books Work. If you want to listen to that, probably 11 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: very short episode. It was pushed on November of that year. 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: But we figured that, you know, although the answer is 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: technically yes, we have, we we thought that it was 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: time for update, especially since the one that Chris and 15 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,279 Speaker 1: I did we really only covered one implementation and we 16 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: were specifically looking at e inc, which we'll talk about 17 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: again in this episode. But there it turns out people 18 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: didn't weren't satisfied with just one implementation for this E 19 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: paper idea. They decided to have a whole bunch of 20 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: mind bending, lee complicated science E implementations that caused me 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: to weep at my desk. Um the poor, the poor 22 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: fellow with the English literature degree. But but I wanted 23 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: to mention, first of all, you know what exactly is 24 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: the paper before we go into any of the implementations. 25 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: Why would you want an e paper display? What is 26 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: so special about this particular type of display? Well, everything 27 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: electronic is better. Well they're okay, one, it's electronics, so 28 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: clearly better than any kind of regular paper. So wins 29 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: over that. It's sometimes in scientific circles referred to as 30 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: reflective electronic paper. And reflective is kind of the key 31 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: term there because many screens are backlit, which causes which 32 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: is awesome for various tchnologies of making you see stuff, 33 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: but is pretty energy and efficient and also hard to 34 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,119 Speaker 1: see in really brightly lit areas. Right, So, for example, 35 00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: if we were to be watching some sort of amazing 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: movie in a dark theater cave, we want something that's 37 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: back lit, right, we want something that's projecting its own 38 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: light or else you can't see anything. But if you're outside, 39 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: say at the beach, or if you have a lamp on, 40 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: yeah you've got Maybe you are just trying to read 41 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: something simple and and also you just maybe you find 42 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 1: that backlit display gets your makes your eyes tired after 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: a while. It does lead to tired eyes. So you 44 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: might want something where you're just putting light onto the 45 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: device and then just reading based upon the light that's 46 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: reflecting back to you. And that's what the paper is 47 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: all about. It's really trying to mimic what actual paper 48 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: does all by itself. So if you have a piece 49 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: of paper and you've written stuff on it, and you're 50 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: reading the stuff on that paper, newsplash, paper is not 51 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,839 Speaker 1: sending light into your eyeballs. It's a reflecting light from 52 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,799 Speaker 1: some other source back to you most of the time. Yeah, right, 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: if it's E paper and it is back lit, then 54 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: I guess it could. Though again, most e paper, as 55 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: we'll discuss, is not. Now there there's another advantage, like 56 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: you said, the energy factor. Right, If I'm using a 57 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: backlit display, that means there has to be some sort 58 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: of light source that's shining out at me, and that 59 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: requires energy for that to continue. We don't have some 60 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: magical way to just make light come out without using energy. 61 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: But a lot of these E paper displays have very 62 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: energy efficient means of establishing some sort of image on 63 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: the display and holding it there without havingout needing to 64 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: continue pouring energy into the system exactly, so you have 65 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: the two benefits there, the ability to look at this 66 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: display in really well lit areas and the fact that 67 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: it's not sipping tons of energy. Uh. They also, depending 68 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: upon the implementation, can be flexible, So flex will displays 69 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: are a pretty cool idea for a lot of different 70 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: uh potential applications. A lot of them are kind of 71 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: advertising related well sure, but you know also the just 72 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,520 Speaker 1: the pure concept of being able to take your your 73 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 1: e book and roll it up and stick it in 74 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,679 Speaker 1: your backpack. Sure, or or have like an e paper 75 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: display watch. I have an e paper display watch. The 76 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,039 Speaker 1: pebble which I'm wearing right now has an papers to it. 77 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: In case you guys couldn't see that via the radio, right, 78 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: it sometimes doesn't come across with the point point, but 79 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: it has an e paper display. But you could also 80 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: create an e paper display watch that is very very 81 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: thin and flexible so that you could have it wrap 82 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: around your whole wrist. And in fact, there are a 83 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: few examples of that. A Japanese company made some really 84 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: really super cool ones that I think was a limited 85 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:49,040 Speaker 1: run of five hundreds. They ended up being around twenty 86 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: bucks apiece, but they look great and and yes, and 87 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: this is all leading towards your incredible dream of having 88 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: the electronic gauntlets. Yes, I won't be happy until I 89 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,280 Speaker 1: have of the e bracer, where again I can have 90 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: all the little things like my my life force telling 91 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: me how how much life force I have left, you know, 92 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,679 Speaker 1: in case I'm not aware of it at the time. 93 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,760 Speaker 1: You know, because I encounter some tough customers in my 94 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: line of work, and sometimes exactly how tough they are. Yeah, 95 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: and sometimes you you have to look at and see, like, well, 96 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: let me let me guess how much of a beating 97 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: can I take before I'm done? But all that being said, 98 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: what where did this idea come from? Where where did 99 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:37,480 Speaker 1: we start really talking about eat ink and e paper. 100 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: Even though the whole idea of this electronic display, of 101 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: a reflective electronic display hit the public consciousness just in 102 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: the past decade or so due to the popularity of 103 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 1: the books and e readers and to kindle all of 104 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: that kind of thing, um, the technology has actually been 105 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: in development since the nineteen seventies. Some researchers at Xerox 106 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: began experimenting with what they called gyra con it sounds 107 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 1: like a transformer I love so much. Right, um. And 108 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: these were little spheres of electrically charged plastic that were 109 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: white on one side and black on the other and 110 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:14,800 Speaker 1: could rotate, hence the gyra kind of word there um. 111 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: And they were suspended in oil between transparent electrodes. It 112 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: could be used for signs, but they never really worked 113 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,159 Speaker 1: it out to be many miniaturized to the point of 114 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: being really useful for something like a personal device, and 115 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,239 Speaker 1: it kind of was overlooked for a few decades until 116 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: the nineteen nineties when H M. I T and then 117 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,040 Speaker 1: a related Cambridge based company called e ink Corp. Began 118 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: developing their own version of these gyrating electronic inc capsules 119 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:49,480 Speaker 1: in right, And of course the majorization important for multiple purposes. Right, 120 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: not just so that you can have it fit into 121 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: a form factor like an e book or a watch, 122 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: but also just the idea of getting the right kind 123 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: of resolution or up close viewing. Like you don't need 124 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: it to be as as a higher resolution for like 125 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: a sign outside, right, you need you need to be 126 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: legible outside, but it doesn't have to have really sharp edges. 127 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: You don't have to be able to get two inches 128 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: away from it and right right. Whereas with books, you know, 129 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: you're getting pretty up close and personal, and with a 130 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: watch even more so. So obviously that was one of 131 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: those things that need to be worked out. So how 132 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: do they work today? Well, like I said at the 133 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: very beginning, there are a lot of different implementations now 134 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: that should not come as a huge surprise because with 135 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: with displays in general, there are lots of ways of 136 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: having a display show you stuff. Yeah. I think about televisions, yeah, tons, 137 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: Like if we're talking just the flat screen type, you 138 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: have plasma, you have l E ED, you have l 139 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,280 Speaker 1: C D. Then of course you have the good old 140 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: cathode ray tube televisions of our childhood. Yeah, so they'll 141 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: own one of those, do you. It's fancy. I think 142 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: I have one in a garage somewhere and it's heavy. Um, 143 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: but the nice fancy I think I'm meant heavy. The 144 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: nice thing is that some of our old gaming consoles 145 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: will still work with those because the ports match, right, yep. Yeah, 146 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: it's one of those things that you give up, you know, 147 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: you start to see these these technologies no longer become compatible. 148 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: That's I do still have a S N E S. Yeah, 149 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: and you can't run that on a modern television without 150 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: some some version, yeah, converter. So let's talk about the 151 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: different types of E paper display technology. I think the 152 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: most popular one on the market certainly right now is 153 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: electrophoretic technology. That's correct, that is what e INK uses, 154 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: the one that you mentioned, and e Ink, I think 155 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: is the is the most well known company that does this. 156 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: This is the story of technology you find in a 157 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:49,319 Speaker 1: lot of e readers, and so this uses that electrical 158 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: charge to push stuff around. So the ink in an 159 00:08:54,800 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: electrophoretic technology display can be lots of different stuff off. 160 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: But the typically you'll you'll find these little plastic beads 161 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: that may be dual colored where you have white on 162 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: one side and black on the other, like I mentioned before, 163 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: or some that are black and some that are white. Right, 164 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: you would just have two different separate kinds of beads, 165 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: and you would have them uh oppositely charged. So let's 166 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: say that the the white beads are positively charged and 167 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: the black beads are negatively charged. Now, the top layer, 168 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,280 Speaker 1: the screen layer, the part that we are looking at 169 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: our eyeballs are hitting. That is clear, it's transparent. Otherwise 170 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be very useful. We had a solid plastic 171 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: E reader that that was opaque, it wouldn't do you 172 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,040 Speaker 1: any good, not very much. Now, on the opposite side, 173 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: the foundation of the device, that's the back pain. That's 174 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: where everything is built on top of. So let's say 175 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:47,680 Speaker 1: you have an electrode down over on the back pain. 176 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: You've got one on the peer level as well. And 177 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: you you remember, you've got the the white beads that 178 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:55,839 Speaker 1: have a positive charge and the black beads that have 179 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: a negative charge. If you create a negative charge at 180 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: the bay at the back pain, then that's going to 181 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: repel all those black beads, because like charges repel one another. 182 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: So all those black beads are gonna rise to the 183 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 1: top to the clear electrode the screen part which means 184 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: if you're looking down at the e reader, the screen 185 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: just turns black. Right, the white uh particles, the white 186 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: beads will all sink to the bottom because uh they're 187 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: positively charged and positive negative charges attract one another, so 188 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,439 Speaker 1: they're all at the bottom. Now. The nice thing is, 189 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,640 Speaker 1: once you've done that, it's set. It's going to be 190 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: like that until you change introduce another charge exactly so uh, 191 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: it's it's fantastic because that means you no longer have 192 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 1: to pour power into this device in order to have 193 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: whatever it is you've established. If you were to swap 194 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: the charges and suddenly make the electrode at the base 195 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,480 Speaker 1: be a positively charged electrode, then it would repel all 196 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,320 Speaker 1: the white beads. They would rise to the top, all 197 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: the black beads would come to the bottom, and you 198 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: would have a blank screen. That's what would look like 199 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: to you write. And by varying that across the entire 200 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: surface of the back pain, then you can have these 201 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: black people patterns and words and pictures and whatever you 202 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: want exactly. And depending upon how small those beads are, 203 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: you can have some pretty interesting some pretty good resolution. 204 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: So it's not like, you know, it's not like there's 205 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 1: only like ten beads in here. Now, there's millions of 206 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: the little things. So that's your basic premise with electrophoretic technology, 207 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: but they're not all uh, specifically in that implementation in 208 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: inc is that's the style of eating those those beads 209 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: are just a hundred microns, Why so a hundred thousand 210 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: can fit into one square inch of quote unquote paper. Uh, 211 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: so you're talking, like I said, millions of these things, 212 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: depending upon the size of your display. Obviously, larger displays 213 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: are going to need more beads nor to have that resolution. 214 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: But another variation of this uses something called micro cups. Microcups, 215 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: they're kind of what they sound like. They're little into 216 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: visually sealed cups of of of stuff. You've got a 217 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: bead in these and you also have um some some 218 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: dye in them. So the idea is that if you 219 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 1: pull the bead to the top towards the screen side, 220 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: you get a blank screen. When they're pulled down to 221 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: the base of the little individual micro cups of the 222 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: shows through and creates your color pattern. Yeah. So you 223 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: can think of each micro cup as an individual pixel 224 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,679 Speaker 1: in this entire screen, and by pulling various beads down, 225 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,079 Speaker 1: you create what are the words and the patterns and 226 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: the pictures and all that kind of stuff. Uh, same 227 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,439 Speaker 1: basic principle, though you're just using electric charge to move 228 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,760 Speaker 1: something around. In this case, it's just one bead instead 229 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,680 Speaker 1: of different pairs of beads. So very interesting. These again 230 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: are the most popular I would say approaches. The micro 231 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:59,439 Speaker 1: cups approaches supposedly better for flexible displays, just more effective. 232 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:02,439 Speaker 1: It's easy to implement than the the you know, massive 233 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: number of beads approach. But that, if you know, that 234 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 1: was essentially the version we covered in the first tech 235 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,480 Speaker 1: Stuff episode back in two thousand eight. So everything from 236 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:19,680 Speaker 1: here on out is new and scary and possibly going 237 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: to make me uh fall over in attempts to pronounce 238 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: some of these words. So uh, I'm just just prepare yourself, folks. 239 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: You can you can do it. Jonathan coolisteric liquid crystal 240 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: display technology. Let's hit it all right. So liquid crystals, 241 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: those are pretty awesome. They can behave kind of like 242 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: a liquid and kind of like a solid. So solids, 243 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: their molecular structure is really stable right there in a 244 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: set pattern. They don't move around. They maintain their orientation 245 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: in respect to each other. Liquid is different. Those molecules 246 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 1: and a liquid can be all willing and they and 247 00:13:55,400 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: move around and they don't have to maintain their respective orientations. 248 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: So this is easy to imagine if you're thinking about 249 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: just the way water moves. All those little molecules are 250 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: moving all over the place inside that amount of water, 251 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: whereas if you're looking at a solid table at tables 252 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: not moving. It's not, at least not in respect to 253 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:17,560 Speaker 1: you know, one part of the table is not moving 254 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 1: in respect to another part of the table, unless you've 255 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: got a really weird table. So liquid crystals can behave 256 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: like either solids or liquids, depending upon the situation. Now, 257 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: colosteric liquid crystals have stable phases, very important. You want 258 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: it to be able to set into a particular orientation 259 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: and maintain it. But um, because if it didn't, then 260 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,120 Speaker 1: you couldn't use it for something like creating pictures and words. 261 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: It wouldn't be stable. It would just keep changing and 262 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: you might have a really cool piece of wal art, 263 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: but it wouldn't be useful or maybe only once very 264 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: very differently, right, kind of a million monkeys in a 265 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: room with typewriters kind of way. Yeah, So liquid crystals 266 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: in these displays, they form a helical structure also known 267 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: as a chiral structure, and depending upon their orientation, they 268 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: either reflect light or the absorb light. So by running 269 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: a current through a display with these crystals, you can 270 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,560 Speaker 1: orient them in such a way that they form shapes 271 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,640 Speaker 1: like words and pictures, and like electrophoretic displays, these are 272 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: the term is by stable. I think that we forgot 273 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: to mention that up there. By stable is what it 274 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: means when something can stick a certain way without having 275 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: to put an electric and until you put an electric 276 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 1: charge back through it. Right, So in other words, once 277 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: you have it set, it's good to go. This is 278 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: the same thing. Like I'm sure you've heard the argument 279 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: about people who before we were allowed to have electronic 280 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: devices on at takeoff and landing and people would say 281 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: you need to turn off your e reader devices. There 282 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: are folks who are saying, you know, this isn't it's 283 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: not assuming power unless they turn the page because it's 284 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: not producing any kind of radiation at all unless I 285 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: butt right, Yeah, it's yeah, exactly, as long as the 286 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: WiFi is not on, then it's not doing anything. Also, 287 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: mine doesn't even have an off switch. Yeah that's true. 288 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: Someone's like, all all you're doing by making me put 289 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: it away is denying need a pleasure of reading. Right, Yeah, 290 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: you're you're making me focus on one of the more 291 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: stressful moments of flight and uh and that's not doing 292 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: anyone any good. Um. Yeah, So like you were saying, 293 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: both of those implementations are the kind where you don't 294 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: constantly sit power. You only do it whenever you need 295 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: to change whatever the uh. The various orientations are whether 296 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: it's the beads in the electro boretic or it's the 297 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: liquid crystals in the callisteric. Okay, let's move on to 298 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: electra wedding. All right, this is the problem that elderly 299 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: robots have. It's a serious issue. I'm glad I'm not 300 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: the only person who thought immediately, yeah, that's something else. 301 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: I think it all depends. Oh, Jonathan, I'm a terrible person. 302 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: Electra wedding technology has nothing to do with that. And 303 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: for all those people who out there who hate my 304 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:07,440 Speaker 1: sense of humor, I'm sorry, but I am twelve so 305 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: actually sorry, not sorry. I think it's what he means. Yeah, 306 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,480 Speaker 1: I mean, yes, that's who I am. But electro wedding 307 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 1: technology actually, it's a really interesting approach. Again. Now we're 308 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: using electric electricity to change the shape of a confined 309 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: water slash oil interface. So you know, water and oil 310 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:31,040 Speaker 1: they don't mix. We've got sayings about it, uh, And 311 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: you can try it at home. You can put some 312 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 1: water and some oil in a glass together and you'll 313 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,120 Speaker 1: see they do not mix together. And if you were 314 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:41,480 Speaker 1: to try and mix them together, they would separate. So 315 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,199 Speaker 1: that's important. But when you have no voltage applied to 316 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,080 Speaker 1: this particular type of display, the oil forms a film 317 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 1: between the water and an electrode the stream, which is hydrophobic. Now, 318 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:57,719 Speaker 1: hydrophobic just means that water won't stick to it, right. 319 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: It's like if you've ever had any kind of rain 320 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: X or other film that you put on your windshield, 321 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: your car's windshield so that when you go out in 322 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: the rain, it just beats up and rolls off. Kind 323 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: of terminator one thousand style that is that is hydrophobics, hydrophobic. 324 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: Fancy word for a simple concept. Ye. So this uh, 325 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: this way of creating the oil, and on top of 326 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 1: this this water level that's what creates a colored pixel. 327 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: And applying a voltage makes the water push that oil aside, 328 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: which creates a transparent pixel. So if the oils on top, 329 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: you get something. You can get a color color, right, 330 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: whatever the color of the back pain is. Actually, so 331 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: if you had a blue back pain, you just see blue. Uh. 332 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,920 Speaker 1: And then if you were to switch the water in place, 333 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: it would be a lighter color of blue because it 334 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: would be transparent more than opaque. The way you would 335 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: get a blank screen is if you had a white backplate. 336 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:54,919 Speaker 1: You know, I think I've been saying back pain and 337 00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:57,639 Speaker 1: I think it might be because my chair is really weird, 338 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:01,440 Speaker 1: but no, it's back plate. Um. But yeah, if the 339 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: backplate has a white surface, you get that transparency that's 340 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,199 Speaker 1: seen as a blank screen. And uh, the neat thing 341 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: about this is that it's it responds faster than the 342 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: other versions we've talked about. So the ones we talked 343 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,680 Speaker 1: about it previously, they're great for things like books, they're 344 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,360 Speaker 1: not so great for video. I mean, you you can 345 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: find some of these e paper displays that use electrophorredic 346 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: technology that yeah, your your refresh rate has to be 347 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: pretty high to interpret it as as video. You might 348 00:19:32,040 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: be able to get something that plays like a simple 349 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,800 Speaker 1: game of snake or something along those lines, but it 350 00:19:36,840 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: tends to be you know, pretty slow in response, slow 351 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,480 Speaker 1: enough for us to detect, whereas, uh, the electro wedding 352 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,840 Speaker 1: technology can move fast enough where we're not able to 353 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: notice the change. Um that way, you know, it's not 354 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: like there's a lag or delay that's noticeable to us. 355 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: So it moves fast enough where we could use it 356 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: to show video, and it also requires less energy than 357 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: your typical lc D display, So it's still one of 358 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: those that is suitable for that kind of thing without 359 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,960 Speaker 1: you know, breaking the bank on your electric bill. It's 360 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: not by stable, however, because you do have to continuously 361 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: apply electricity to retain an image. So if you were 362 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: to remove the electric charge, the water would move out 363 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: the way again, the oil would come to the surface, 364 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: and you would just have uh, you know, a black 365 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: screen or whatever color the oil happened to be in 366 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,160 Speaker 1: the and the back plate had happened to be. So yeah, 367 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: it's kind of interesting. Um. The only company I could 368 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:39,479 Speaker 1: find that's actually working on this technology is called liquid Vista, 369 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: and it was a company that was spun off by Phillips. 370 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: Phillips had been doing the research into this and they 371 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: kind of said, well, it's not only gonna work for us, 372 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 1: but we will spin off, you know, kind of sell 373 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: off this this research division because there's there's potential for 374 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,919 Speaker 1: that particular technology. And that was not a not a 375 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: pun potential with electricity, and are you sure it wasn't, 376 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:06,280 Speaker 1: so it was a pun, I guess, So it was 377 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: an unintentional pun. Those are the best kind. Those are 378 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: basically the only kind that I make, and I'm a 379 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 1: little bit embarrassed every time. So how does this electroc 380 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: wedding differentiate itself from electro fluid I. That's a good 381 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: question that I did not understand at first. I had 382 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,639 Speaker 1: to read a few different pieces to really understand electro 383 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: fluidic technology. Well, it uses liquid, as you would imagine 384 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,400 Speaker 1: with fluid I. That does say that there's some sort 385 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:35,160 Speaker 1: of fluid involved, but instead it's using a liquid pigment 386 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: and a polymer layer that has micro cavities in it. 387 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,159 Speaker 1: So let's say that you are looking down at the screen. 388 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,479 Speaker 1: That screen actually has lots and lots of teeny tiny 389 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: pin prick holes like microscopic level. So just when you 390 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: look at it just looks like a blank screen, doesn't 391 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: You don't actually notice the pin bricks. You can't pick 392 00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,080 Speaker 1: them out with your eye. No, no, you can't. And 393 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: so when you apply an elector charge it because of 394 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: the way micro fluid motion happens in the presence of 395 00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: an electric field, the pigment will start to go through 396 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: those micro cavities and fill out some of the space 397 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 1: and become pixels within the display. Okay, So it sounds 398 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 1: at first, when you think about it, sounds like you're 399 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: looking down and you just see liquid bubbling up out 400 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,360 Speaker 1: of a hole and slowly filling up the screen. That's 401 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: not exactly what is. Each of these little micro cavities 402 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,640 Speaker 1: is self contained. So each of those tiny little holes 403 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:34,760 Speaker 1: is allowing enough oil to come up or pigment to 404 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: come up, to combine with the other ones in that 405 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 1: immediate area to make the edge of an letter E 406 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: for example. Sure. Sure, I didn't look into this one personally, 407 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: but I know that the way that some materials interact 408 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,160 Speaker 1: with fluids involves a process called absorption, which basically means 409 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,920 Speaker 1: that electrically speaking, they're kind of sticking to the edges 410 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: of it. And I suspect that that is what is 411 00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 1: going on here from what I understand. Yes, we're getting, 412 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 1: by the way, into levels of physics that I never 413 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: explored in college or in in high school. This is 414 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: a heavy physics stay for us. Yeah, micro fluid I 415 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,920 Speaker 1: physics is complicated stuff. Uh. And and we should also 416 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 1: mention that this particular implementation is something that some companies 417 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 1: are looking into, but it's not necessarily something you're gonna 418 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: find in a lot of products right now, whether you're 419 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:26,520 Speaker 1: talking consumer or commercial. But it is an interesting approach, 420 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,919 Speaker 1: and prototypes have all been in black and white as 421 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 1: far as I can tell, but the manufacturers say that 422 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: they would be able to make color versions as well, 423 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: so that you could have based upon the level of 424 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:43,119 Speaker 1: voltage applied, different colors of pigment come up, and so 425 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: you could have a full color image on your e reader, 426 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,119 Speaker 1: which is one of those things that people have wondered 427 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: about for a while. I mean, you can you can 428 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 1: get that if you have a back lit one. That's 429 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: pretty easy, certainly, or if you have independent multiple layers 430 00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: of different colors of monochrome, right you could do it 431 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: that way. And of course these layers are so thin 432 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 1: that to us it would all appear as if it's 433 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: on the same plane. But technically you were able to 434 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: get shrink really down to the micro size. You could 435 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: tell they were on separate kind of floors if you 436 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: think about it, if you think of it, or or 437 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:17,199 Speaker 1: layers in a sandwich, since we're talking about electrodes being 438 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 1: kind of like or cake in this case a mini 439 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: layered cake as only hypothetical that's true, which you know, 440 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: that's it's not the best kind of cake, but it's 441 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: better than the cake being alive. Um. Now, those displays, 442 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:36,159 Speaker 1: the in particular, the these electro fluidic displays have a 443 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: high reflectivity, higher in fact than the other ones we've 444 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:44,760 Speaker 1: talked about, and potentially, according again to manufacturers, that reflectivity 445 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,439 Speaker 1: could reach the point where it's the same as paper. 446 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: So while we talk about e readers and the paper 447 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:52,879 Speaker 1: having high reflectivity so it's like a piece of paper, 448 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: most of them don't come close to having the same 449 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,480 Speaker 1: reflectivity as an actual piece of paper. They're just better 450 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,480 Speaker 1: than say, a backlet display. From why I understand, this 451 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,480 Speaker 1: particular implementation sounds like it would be the closest we 452 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: would get to having, you know, a one to one 453 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: correlation between paper and the paper as far as reflectivity 454 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: is concerned. So that means it would have the best 455 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: visibility in bright light. Um uh. And we'll talk more 456 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:22,760 Speaker 1: about reflectivity a little bit later. We certainly will that 457 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 1: we have electrochromic technology. This one's also really cool. I 458 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: had no clue how many different versions of the paper 459 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: there really were. Yeah, So so far we've been talking 460 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,919 Speaker 1: about two basic sides of a coin of the paper, 461 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: A vertical orientation of of bringing something to or away 462 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: from a surface in order to make color, or a 463 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: horizontal orientation of pushing stuff around inside the surface in 464 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: order to make it go. This is uh, this is 465 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 1: a chemical reaction. Yeah, electrochemical reactions. So some materials will 466 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: change color as they undergo reduction or oxidat So you 467 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: can think of it this in a in a sense 468 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: like iron as it rusts turns red, right, I mean 469 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: that's the way fresh round. Yeah, So that's one way 470 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 1: of looking at this. But these particular materials which have 471 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,199 Speaker 1: names that are far too complex and too long for 472 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: me to even pronounce, so I didn't even bother to 473 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 1: put them into the notes. I just at that point 474 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: I was like, nope. But the color change in this 475 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: case is completely reversible for these particular types of materials 476 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,400 Speaker 1: when they undergo oxidization. You can just control it through 477 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,880 Speaker 1: applying an electrical charge. So if you send an electrical 478 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:38,920 Speaker 1: charge to it, it will change color, and you send 479 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: a different electrical charge to it, it it changes back. Also, 480 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: the change in color is stable until another charge is applied, 481 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: so it's again a bistable display. So you you turn 482 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: the page, it would send the charge out to the 483 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: right parts of the screen to either have it switch, 484 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:01,639 Speaker 1: or if it didn't need to switch, there'll be no 485 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: charge sent there. So like if there's a particular pixel 486 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: that needs to retain its color, it just won't get 487 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,639 Speaker 1: a charge. Then everything else will get the charge swap 488 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 1: the way it needs to swap, and then you're good 489 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: until you need to change the page again. And this 490 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:19,240 Speaker 1: kind of technology is is also being implemented in other ways, 491 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: isn't it absolutely? In fact, you can you can buy 492 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: stuff that has this technology in it right now. So 493 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: if you've ever heard about smart windows, windows that can 494 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,360 Speaker 1: actually change their tent depending upon your demands, So yeah, 495 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: at your will, not like not like sunglasses that have 496 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: the color change film, right, Yeah, it's not that, not 497 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: that transition lens kind of technology, which is more of 498 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: a yeah, that's something where you know you're not even 499 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: part of the equation. No, I'm talking about Let's say 500 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: that you've got a dimmer switch for your window where 501 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:53,119 Speaker 1: you can actually change the opacity of your window, um dynamically, 502 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: you can make it darker or lighter as you will. 503 00:27:56,359 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: So that sort of technology tends to have this approach, 504 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:05,040 Speaker 1: This implementation in it where you change the electric charge 505 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:08,120 Speaker 1: by flipping a switch or turning a dimmer and then 506 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: it ends up either making it darker or lighter, depending 507 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 1: upon whatever it is you told it to do. So 508 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: pretty cool stuff. Now you might think that we're through. 509 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 1: We are far from through. Here we go. We will 510 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: never be through interferometric modulator displays. And I know, the 511 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: longer I go, the more it sounds like I'm making stuff. 512 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: I promise I'm not making stuff up. These displays create 513 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: colors using interference of reflected light. So they're not even 514 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:43,240 Speaker 1: using any kind of beads or anything like that. They're 515 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:48,080 Speaker 1: specifically reflecting specific types of light to your eyeballs so 516 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: that you can see whatever it is that it's you're 517 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: supposed to see. So, so this is going to be 518 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:57,600 Speaker 1: a series of mirrors inside the screen that are going 519 00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: to be reflecting light in different ways. Essentially, that's what 520 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: you're talking about. It's a reflective surface. You might as 521 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 1: well call it a mirror because that's the that's the 522 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,240 Speaker 1: easiest way of explaining it. But imagine that you have 523 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:13,000 Speaker 1: a mirror that can only reflect a certain hue of 524 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,800 Speaker 1: light in particular wavelength. Yeah, so let's say it's blue. 525 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 1: And when you look in that mirror, everything that you see, 526 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: even though it's a reflection of what what is in 527 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: front of you, is going to be blue, and the 528 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: rest of the wavelengths are being absorbed and that blue 529 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,440 Speaker 1: stuff is being shot back out. Yeah, so you can 530 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: see yourself if you were smurf and everything in in 531 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: in your world was smurfy, because it would all be blue. 532 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:39,840 Speaker 1: But I don't think I want that world, probably not. 533 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: But so you could have a monochromatic display, which would 534 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 1: mean that all the mirrors would reflect a specific color 535 00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: and that would be the only color that would show 536 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: up whenever you were uh sending a charge through. Or 537 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,480 Speaker 1: you can have a multicolor display, which would have multiple 538 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: little mirrors for each pixel. You would call them sub pixels. 539 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: So to create any individual color, you might have just 540 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: certain types of the mirrors showing, or maybe pairs of 541 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:10,600 Speaker 1: the mirrors, because it would be kind of like a 542 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: color display, you know where you have that uh the 543 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: either the red, green, blue or the cyan magenta. You 544 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: know that that approach um. So you would have all 545 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: those little subpixels to make that multicolor display, and you 546 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:27,240 Speaker 1: only would need to the to change the orientation of 547 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: the mirrors and use power for that. So again, once 548 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: you turn to page, once the mirrors are in the 549 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:37,280 Speaker 1: right orientation, yeah, then all it's doing is just reflecting 550 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: light to you. So you just have light hitting that screen, 551 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: it reflects back and it's fine. When you turn the page, 552 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: then it changes the orientation of those mirrors, whether it's 553 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,040 Speaker 1: pointing different ones at you so you can see different colors, 554 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: or they just turn so that it's hitting the backspace 555 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: backplate and you're getting a blank page that way, whatever 556 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: that happens to be, that's when it would consume power. 557 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 1: So again, very much a bistable approach. Really interesting stuff 558 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 1: obviously wouldn't be good for video. You're talking about changing 559 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,120 Speaker 1: the orientation of all these reflective surfaces each time you 560 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: turn the page. It's probably not the fastest implementation I 561 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: would not imagine. So Okay, so we've talked about all 562 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: of this great stuff. I have to imagine that our 563 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: dear magical friend nanotechnology has to be involved in one 564 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: of these. It butts its head into things, sooner or later. Yes, 565 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: nanotech comes in the form of photonic crystal technology. This 566 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,920 Speaker 1: is fairly recent as far as the different implementations go 567 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:42,080 Speaker 1: and photonic crystals are nanostructures that are arranged in a 568 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,680 Speaker 1: regular pattern. So imagine that you've got like a block 569 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: of these things and they're all each one is made 570 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: up of an individual little sphere. And when you change 571 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: the shape of that that block of spheres, like you 572 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: stretch it out, or you compress it down, or you 573 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: just move it in some way, the allor changes. So 574 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: if you are able to say, uh, implant these nanostructures 575 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: into a polymer, a stretchable polymer, and then when you 576 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: apply electricity two said polymer, the polymer changes shape, which 577 00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: by its very nature, because you have these nano structures 578 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,840 Speaker 1: implanted in the polymer, it means the shape of that 579 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 1: that polymer pattern is going to change. That changes the 580 00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: way light reflects off of it. It creates the pictures 581 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: that you want to stay. Yeah, so uh yeah, if 582 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: you think of it, like if you were to imagine 583 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,920 Speaker 1: maybe a sheet of rubber and you have a bunch 584 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: of marbles that are that are like embedded in that 585 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 1: sheet of rubber, and you pull the rubber tight so 586 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,640 Speaker 1: that you see that the marble start to move away 587 00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: from each other. That's kind of what we're talking about, 588 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: but on the nanoscale, and remember a nanometer is one 589 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: billion of a meter. We're talking super super small here, 590 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: so it's not something you would ever be able to observe, 591 00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: not even a light microscope depending upon the size of 592 00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: these these particular structures, so teeny tiny stuff. And it 593 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: does have some current drawbacks, which is that one, if 594 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: you are looking at trying to create color display, the 595 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:20,200 Speaker 1: contrast between colors isn't very strong, so your pictures don't 596 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: tend to be very clearly vibrant. Yeah. Uh, there are 597 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: from what I understand, top men working on it right now. Uh, 598 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: top men, And anything involving nanotechnology also is usually on 599 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 1: the expensive end. Yes, And it's it's definitely, you know, 600 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: one of those things where you've got several research groups 601 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: looking into the feasibility of this approach and whether or 602 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: not it makes more sense. I mean, we have all 603 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: these different options right now. It can be that maybe 604 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,960 Speaker 1: in twenty years time most of these fade away as 605 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,479 Speaker 1: we start to see which ones make the most sense, 606 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: whether economically or you know, whichever one gives the best experience. 607 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: That sort of thing is really going to determine which 608 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,080 Speaker 1: of these stick around, and there may be some of 609 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: these that are really good for very specific and implementations 610 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 1: everything else. All right, Our last one on the list 611 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,080 Speaker 1: is one that I am incredibly fascinated by. It's called 612 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: read or reverse emulsion electrophoretic display technology. Yeah, this is neat, 613 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: neat stuff. Okay, you've got two different types of liquid 614 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:30,439 Speaker 1: in one display. In this case, you've got a base 615 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,360 Speaker 1: liquid that is nonpolarized right into the words normal old material. 616 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: You're not going to have it react to an electric charge. 617 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,560 Speaker 1: Then you have a polarized dyed liquid. So imagine that 618 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: you've got like a giant beaker filled with clear liquid. 619 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:48,799 Speaker 1: We'll just say it's it's it's some sort of like 620 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: water like stuff. It's it's perfectly neutral, so it's not 621 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,920 Speaker 1: going to react to electricity. Um. But then you put 622 00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:59,880 Speaker 1: in it this bluish dye and it's got a polar 623 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:02,279 Speaker 1: Ei element to it, and you mix it up really 624 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: good so that maybe there's a light bluish tinge to 625 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: the water, but otherwise you can't. You can't. But then 626 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: when you apply an electric charge, you can gather all 627 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:18,200 Speaker 1: that blue dye into a specific spot and it will 628 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: suddenly look like it's coalescing into almost a solid object 629 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: within this liquid. Yeah. So if you were to do 630 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: that in a display format where you have a very 631 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 1: controlled environment, so it's not again, it's not like a 632 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,160 Speaker 1: dish that just has all this liquid in it. It's 633 00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 1: in very specific locations. You could actually create the electric 634 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: charge so that the die coalesces exactly where you want 635 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: it to and it becomes an electronic piece of paper. 636 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: This this is the one that sounds like two. Yeah. 637 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,920 Speaker 1: I think of this as as if you were able 638 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,560 Speaker 1: to write on a sheet of paper and then see 639 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: all the words suddenly gloam up into a ball of 640 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: ink in the center of the page and then become 641 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,160 Speaker 1: new words across the page. It's very sort of Terry 642 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: gilliam esque kind of image in my head. Uh, that's 643 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: sort of what this thing can do, except of course, 644 00:36:13,640 --> 00:36:17,239 Speaker 1: it's doing it electronically. It's not physically altering the the 645 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,720 Speaker 1: actual INC. Uh No, And this one is really extra 646 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: super new. Yeah. Yeah, this is one of those that 647 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,120 Speaker 1: again is uh there's actually a company that's just working 648 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:30,839 Speaker 1: on trying to develop the INC. It's not even going 649 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,920 Speaker 1: to be developing a display for this INC. So we 650 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 1: are we are at least a couple of years away 651 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: from seeing this working in any kind of implementation, apart 652 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,160 Speaker 1: from maybe some really early prototypes. But it's just it's 653 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: it's cool to see all the different things we can 654 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 1: do with just playing with electricity and creating this same 655 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:57,320 Speaker 1: sort of effect through very different implementations. I just I 656 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,760 Speaker 1: think it's fascinating that people can take the same basic 657 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:06,400 Speaker 1: uh concept. Yeah, the end goal is the same, and 658 00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:10,720 Speaker 1: ultimately the thing that makes everything change electricity is the same, 659 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: but everything in between those two points is totally different, 660 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,120 Speaker 1: so different. Yeah, and it's fascinating to me, especially because 661 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:21,719 Speaker 1: it's such a material's heavy based technology, and you know, 662 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:25,920 Speaker 1: as we get better materials and as our manufacturing process 663 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,680 Speaker 1: is improved, we're going to see huge improvements in this 664 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 1: kind of um. You know, a lot of what is 665 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: going to be involved is coming up with stuff that 666 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: has really non reflective films, you know, screens and very 667 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,200 Speaker 1: very reflective materials creating the pixels inside those screens. Right, 668 00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:47,560 Speaker 1: So what you're saying is that the the surface isn't reflective, 669 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:49,200 Speaker 1: because otherwise you would just be it would be like 670 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:51,880 Speaker 1: holding a mirror and shining light in your eyes. But 671 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,960 Speaker 1: that the the ink itself, whatever you want to call 672 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:59,640 Speaker 1: that inc whether it's little solid particles or fluid, whatever 673 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 1: it is, that would need to be the super reflective 674 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: stuff so that you have a nice sharp contrast. Yes, 675 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,879 Speaker 1: the less reflective the material of film and the more 676 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 1: reflective the material of the pixels, the sharper the image 677 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: overall will be UM. Luckily, this kind of idea applies 678 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: to other fields as well that are also very lucrative. 679 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 1: For example, in solar panels. Solar panels are super super 680 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,440 Speaker 1: effective when a lot of light gets through the panel's surface. 681 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,240 Speaker 1: Perhaps obviously if the light is reflecting off the whatever 682 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:34,040 Speaker 1: protective layers on the top of the panel, then you're 683 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:37,000 Speaker 1: losing that light cannot capture that and and convert it 684 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,960 Speaker 1: to electricity. Right, So people are working on creating materials 685 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,759 Speaker 1: that have very low reflection. We talked over on our 686 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: other show Forward Thinking UM with Joe. We did an 687 00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:49,920 Speaker 1: episode on biomimicry, and it featured some of the anti 688 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:54,760 Speaker 1: reflective stuff that people are doing based on moth size um, 689 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,440 Speaker 1: which happened to be covered in this nanostructure that kind 690 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: of just funnels photons straight through UM that also happened 691 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,520 Speaker 1: to be called corneal nipple displays, which I think is 692 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: my favorite science term of the year. I can't I 693 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: can't say it without giggling. They're they're little, they're the well, 694 00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,000 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's for their little conical shapes. So 695 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: I mean it makes perfect sense. You know, you call it, 696 00:39:15,719 --> 00:39:18,640 Speaker 1: call it as you see it. Um that that episode, 697 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: by the way, if you would like to listen to it, 698 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:25,239 Speaker 1: is called bio Mimetics and it published on June. Yeah, 699 00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:27,799 Speaker 1: if you're not listening to Forward Thinking, if you're a 700 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,400 Speaker 1: fan of tech stuff, you'd be a fan of Forward Thinking, 701 00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:34,279 Speaker 1: trust us absolutely. And in addition to helping out with 702 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: the contrast of these screens, getting these light efficiencies worked 703 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,080 Speaker 1: out would also help allow for multi color e paper. 704 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:44,880 Speaker 1: Like I said, you know, one of those ways to 705 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,600 Speaker 1: do it involves having multiple transparent layers of different colors 706 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 1: and so so you would have like a red layer, 707 00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: a green layer, a blue layer, a black layer, and 708 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:59,279 Speaker 1: then through combining those, depending upon what the commands were 709 00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:01,920 Speaker 1: from the elect shrodes, you would be able to create 710 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,600 Speaker 1: a full color display. Uh. Again, if we're if we're 711 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,959 Speaker 1: talking about electro for for reddic then it would be uh, 712 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:12,319 Speaker 1: it would be great for full color illustrations for things 713 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,000 Speaker 1: like science textbooks that kind of thing. Comic books or 714 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,480 Speaker 1: comic books as another great example. Yeah, if you are 715 00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,080 Speaker 1: getting comic books on an e reader, then you probably 716 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 1: want to have full color because you can't really appreciate 717 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:25,880 Speaker 1: the artwork if it if it's if it's not a 718 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,480 Speaker 1: black and white comic, you're not able to fully appreciate 719 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:30,680 Speaker 1: all the work that went into generating it. Oh sure. 720 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:34,400 Speaker 1: Also just on an industrial level, I mean, in order 721 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,840 Speaker 1: to bring the paper into the same realm as regular 722 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:41,880 Speaker 1: old printed paper. You know, the entire color industry is 723 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:44,240 Speaker 1: is a really huge part of all of that. Advertisers 724 00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:47,359 Speaker 1: you know, uh, Coke wants to use Coca Cola red, 725 00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:49,960 Speaker 1: Ninja Turtles want to use Ninja turtle green, like like, 726 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: everyone has very specific copyrighted colors that go along with 727 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:58,600 Speaker 1: their stuff. And until you allow people to make honestly advertisements, um, 728 00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:01,200 Speaker 1: the same way that they would on print paper, it's 729 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:04,000 Speaker 1: never gonna take its place. Yeah. Yeah, well, so I 730 00:41:04,040 --> 00:41:06,200 Speaker 1: know that we've talked in the past on tech stuff 731 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,680 Speaker 1: about the the idea of the paperless office. But yeah, 732 00:41:09,760 --> 00:41:12,319 Speaker 1: until you're able to get into something like that where 733 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: you're able to get really good color matching, it just 734 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:18,719 Speaker 1: isn't gonna happen. Um, And uh, you know, I don't 735 00:41:18,719 --> 00:41:21,719 Speaker 1: know about you, Lauren, but I every every year it 736 00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:25,080 Speaker 1: seems like I I a crew more paper, not less so. 737 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:31,319 Speaker 1: But anyway, yeah, it's interesting to talk about this technology. 738 00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:35,200 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously it's something that is becoming more and 739 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:40,040 Speaker 1: more popular. I mean the Kindle, Yeah, I love, I 740 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:44,000 Speaker 1: love all my kindles. Um, actually I need to get 741 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:46,440 Speaker 1: I need to get a new one, in fact, because 742 00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:51,840 Speaker 1: my I busted my old one. You know. Yeah, what 743 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:56,000 Speaker 1: can I say? You read George rr Martin, You're bound 744 00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,600 Speaker 1: to throw a book against the wall, and the book 745 00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,120 Speaker 1: happens to be a like tronic you pay for it. 746 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:06,200 Speaker 1: So anyway, yeah, these are these It's a really cool technology. 747 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:09,960 Speaker 1: It's really one of those that was cutting edge and 748 00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:12,800 Speaker 1: no one had heard about it just a few years ago. Really, 749 00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:16,319 Speaker 1: and now everyone knows about it, but not everyone knows 750 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:20,680 Speaker 1: what makes it tick. Why do you have this thing 751 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:22,799 Speaker 1: where the only time it sets powers when you turn 752 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,040 Speaker 1: a page? And I think it's really interesting to explore 753 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:27,839 Speaker 1: the technology that makes it possible. So Danny, I want 754 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: to thank you for sending in that suggestion, and if 755 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,399 Speaker 1: any of you have suggestions for future episodes of tech 756 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,280 Speaker 1: stuff then you can write us an email tech Stuff 757 00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:40,319 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. It is actually working now. 758 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:43,680 Speaker 1: It is weekend, completely confirmed, it is in fact working. 759 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:47,400 Speaker 1: You can also send it like Danny did, via Twitter 760 00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:50,759 Speaker 1: uh tech stuff hs wsr handle. It's the same handle 761 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 1: we also use on Facebook and Tumblr, so feel free 762 00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,600 Speaker 1: to get in touch with us through any of those means. 763 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:59,080 Speaker 1: We read every single message. We really appreciate you, guys, 764 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:06,279 Speaker 1: and we will help you again. Release for more on 765 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:08,840 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics because it how stuff 766 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:19,320 Speaker 1: works dot com