Year in review: 2015 showcases electronic paper’s versatility

We take a look back at electronic paper products from 2015, spanning everything from smart wearables to connected traffic signs. E Ink®, that fancy screen from your e-reader, had a big year!

Electronic paper moved even further into the realm of smart products in the connected home, smart city and wearables.

2015 saw electronic paper move further into the realm of interconnected, smart products, evolving from last year’s eink bow ties, digital menus and clocks into ambitious projects in the connected home, smart city and wearables.

Following are some of the most intriguing projects featuring an electronic paper screen from the year past – already available on the market or in the planning stages, we simply love their ingenuity.

2015 saw Polyera bring back every 90s kid’s favorite memory: the snap bracelet, but with an epaper twist. The Wove Band, expected to hit the market in mid 2016, joins a selection of eink accessories out there, but offers more than just a pretty face. Bending and flexing by design, it features a multi-touch e-paper display roughly five times the surface of a smartwatch (image source: Wove).

Connected home at your fingertips: the Huis Remote Controller from Sony is a smart remote with an electronic paper screen and learning features that helps you control your home smart devices. Compatible with IR, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Huis’ e-paper screen and adjustable interface allow the remote to be as complex or as simple as you want it to be (image source: Huis).

Speaking of smart devices: Joan Meeting Room Assistant from Visionect is a e-paper door label that makes meeting management smarter and greener. First introduced at last year’s CES, Joan spent 2015 being perfected and is set to make its official debut at CES 2016 as an Innovation Award winner in the eco-design category.

The Sonder electronic paper keyboard is truly one keyboard to rule them all: with every key a small customizable eink screen, Sonder is the epitome of customizable, with the keys programmable to display any icon, letter or number you want it to, depending on the application being used (image source: Sonder).

Not sure if your aspirin is being stored correctly? PhutureMed is a smart medical packaging solution which uses an E Ink screen to reliably display the ambient conditions of your medication, as well as log when the medicine is being accessed. Even when the batteries run out, the relevant information recorded will still remain clearly visible on the box, thanks to epaper’s ability to retain an image without power (image source: E Ink).

The Yota smartphone got a makeover in 2015 in the form of the YotaPhone2. Sleek and elegant, the phone allows users to keep up with important information and notifications without unlocking their phone, via the always-on 4.7-inch E Ink screen at the back of the device (image source: Yota).

Just like the Yota phone, the Coin credit card has also been around before 2015. This year, however, saw the release of the updated version of the the universal electronic paper credit card. Now supporting contactless payments and improved performance, the Coin 2.0 combines multiple debit, credit or loyalty cards into a single thin e-paper gadget (image source: Coin ).

Tag, you’re it! For the airport-weary travelers BAG2GO, RIMOWA and Lufthansa have developed a smart baggage mobility system consisting of a RIMOWA suitcase, Lufthansa app and the RIMOWA Electronic Tag , a data module with an electronic paper display. The system is designed to make flying more efficient, allowing for baggage check-in from anywhere (image source: BAG2GO).

Smart luggage is not the only benefit that eink can offer people on the go: among the most talked about projects that e-paper made possible in 2015 were electronic paper traffic signs that Visionect helped deploy in Sydney. The energy efficient signs with an embedded eink screen display up-to-date information to motorists, are updated remotely and run on Australia’s plentiful sunshine.

Digitizing transport information does not end with traffic signs: the city of Ljubljana, Europe, the European Green Capital for 2016, implemented advanced passenger information displays on its bus stops in the city center. Developed on electronic paper , they display bus schedules and feature extremely low energy consumption and minimal environmental impact. Talk about green technology!

Ljubljana is not the only European city with electronic paper public transport information. 2015 saw E Ink real-time bus stops deployed on the streets of London, allowing customers to view arrival times and interactive route maps using a solar powered set of e-paper displays (image source: Technoframe).

2015 has gone a long way to establish electronic paper as the technology to turn to when looking for a durable, low power screen. From outdoor to indoor, bus stops to smart office gadgets, eink is emerging as the green, energy-friendly alternative to choose.

It is this increasing demand for paperless options and green solutions that is driving the growth of the global electronic paper market, expected to grow from $5.31 billion in 2015 to $11.35 billion in 2020 and ushering in a widespread use of the technology in the years to come.