By now most of us have probably been promised about the wonders of e-paper - flexible thin futuristic displays that could easily double as interactive wallpaper, and while the watch paper isn’t it, it still comes pretty close.
A fully functional clock, The Watch Paper is printed on ordinary paper and uses a heat sensitive coating to tell time. Each digit blurs from one into the other using the heat from the LED in the back which makes the coating transparent, or atleast we figured thats how it works.
Either way, its fiendishly clever and we decided to have a word with Hannes Koch, the creator and congratulate him about it:
Wrist: If there is a word i could use to describe both your paper-clock and the digital tape, it’s “Ingeniuity”. Both play on our perceptions of LED displays, and both seem so obvious, yet no one’s ever thought of it.
Koch: When developing our own “loTech” epaper, we went back to the almost “retro Style” LED Segment displays, because they are so easy to control and very familiar to everyone. Yet they are the perfect “vehicle” to demonstrate the area between digital and analogue which we are interested in. Dealing with the setup of the segment displays for a week day and night and in parallel marvelling at the qualities of tape in general, the signage tape came to mind. It seemed so utterly obvious that I was sure that someone’s done
it before, but I couldn’t find it. To this day no one has complained…
Wrist: How has the RCA helped you develop as a designer?
Koch: I came to the RCA as a product designer from a technical background (BSC Product Design, Brunel University. The unique quality of the RCA was that it challenged me to complement my technical knowledge with a more conceptual approach to design. As an environment it was (and is) extremely stimulating, because chances are that someone did “it” before. So most of the ideas (in the design area) are massively challenged and therefore
developed. It is not always a pleasant process, but it surely encouraged me to try and establish my own area within design.
Wrist: How has the reaction been so far? Would we see a commercial version soon?
Koch: The reaction has been absolutely overwhelming so far. The wallpaper clock today won an IF-Design Concepts award here in Germany and got me into the NESTA creative pioneer programme, which gives me the chance to seriously work on a business plan for that project and then apply for up to £35.000 funding to get it serialized. So yes, there is a very good chance that this will turn into a commercial version next year! Also I have been invited to show in an exhibition about german design during the Designmai 2005 in Berlin and in Tokyo’s Designersblock in October 2005. Apart from that we are looking for seed-funding right now to develop the next step prototype in the next two months. For us the wonderful thing is to be busy straight after graduating with a project which is completely our own…
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I can see this sewn into clothes for the habitual watch-misplacers out there. So many potential industry uses out there…
Comment by very cool — December 14, 2004 @ 9:22 pm
lo-tech epaper! i would love to get one.
Comment by johan r. — December 15, 2004 @ 1:26 pm
does that mean it hlows in the dark?
Comment by mogali — December 15, 2004 @ 6:59 pm
lOOKS GREAT. ANY WAY TO FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF THIS POTENTIAL ‘COMMERCIAL’ PRODUCT?
Comment by WAIZZ — December 15, 2004 @ 7:24 pm
The paper clock is awesome.
Comment by Vic Berggren — December 15, 2004 @ 9:55 pm
Paper digital clock uses heat to change display on thermal paper
This clock is made out of heat-sensitive paper whose “pixels” are changed to reflect the current time by warming it from behind with computer-controlled LEDs. Link (via Gizmodo)…
Trackback by Boing Boing — December 16, 2004 @ 2:43 am
Waizz: well, we’re going to be following the product, so just keep on checking this site.
Comment by adnan — December 16, 2004 @ 8:23 am
the paper clock used heat to change the display but not from LED’s as a few people have thought. It uses conductive ink which is printed on the back of the thermal paper. A thick line of conductive ink runs down frm the top of the paper, then within the area where the segments are displayed the line becomes much thinner. This increases the resistance of the ‘wire’ and causes the heat to be generated. I remember seeing this thing in the electronics at brunel university labs when it was being made.
Comment by bobby — December 16, 2004 @ 1:09 pm
sdyyownhaf atacmwru.
Comment by Mable — December 25, 2004 @ 5:47 pm
hieuawoevk zmeptej.
Comment by Dionisius — December 25, 2004 @ 6:07 pm
It’s clock is not effectily for mass produce….. but you can get something…..
Comment by Dilik — December 27, 2004 @ 1:08 pm
[...] ners from the Royal College of Art (The very same university where the designer behind the Paper Clock was from) have come up with an innovative use of heating elements and ink that allows gra [...]
Pingback by wristfashion.com » Wall Clock Redefined — January 4, 2005 @ 9:57 pm
[...] ners from the Royal College of Art (The very same university where the designer behind the Paper Clock was from) have come up with an innovative use of heating elements and ink that allows gra [...]
Pingback by wristfashion.com » Wall Clock Redefined — January 4, 2005 @ 9:57 pm
[...] ners from the Royal College of Art (The very same university where the designer behind the Paper Clock was from) have come up with an innovative use of heating elements and ink that allows gra [...]
Pingback by wristfashion.com » Wall Clock Redefined — January 4, 2005 @ 9:58 pm
what is the full name of the designer?
Comment by ben — February 28, 2005 @ 12:17 am
what is the full name of the designer
Comment by ben — February 28, 2005 @ 12:17 am
hannes koch
Comment by adnan — March 6, 2005 @ 1:42 pm
зачот!
Comment by ReasonSpace — April 16, 2005 @ 10:40 am
I am a love ur site and the clocks n watches are cool,pleas mail me if there are any offers
Comment by Amith Mehta — December 30, 2005 @ 2:48 am
Now that is really amazing…..I just cannot comprehend how it works.
Comment by Sally Green — March 18, 2006 @ 12:52 pm