#paper electronics

[libr-tumbl-alternative]

How Paper Batteries Charged by Bacteria Could Power Internet of Things

By integrating bacteria into paper batteries, researchers create a cheap, sustainable way to power billions of sensors and devices. Powered by AutoBlogger.co

[tactile-electronics]

Simplified Pressure Sensors at St Augustines

For a week during the summer holidays I worked with Fran from the Costumologists on a summer school at St Augustines of Canterbury High School in St Helens. The summer school was part of the Heart of Glass programme and was for young people transistioning from primary to secondary school. We delivered a range of sessions including making LED strips operated by a pressure sensor based on the one on Kobakant. The LED strips were built ontop of a pictorial circuit diagram using copper tape and bare conductive paint. To simplify the process of making the pressure sensor we used self-adhesive conductive fabric tape (from e-bay) to make the connections instead of ironing on conductive fabric. The pressure sensor uses Velostadt in the same way as in the Kobakant tutorial however we taped around the edges of the pressure sensor to hold it in place instead of sewing. We found it worked just as well as the original and was really usefull for a quick prototyping activity.

[thehackspace]

Interactive Sound Posters

Dutch agency Trapped In Suburbia have created a series of interactive ‘Sound Posters’ that respond to the audience’s touch. Using conductive ink and capacitive touch sensors, the paper surface becomes a playable instrument. The final poster of the series utilises ‘gunpowder ink’ to end the project with a bang.

Check out their website for more information on their process

[tactile-electronics]

Musial wallpaper Prototype Using Soundplant, a MakeyMakey and conductive paint to make a rain cloud that plays sounds when touched. You have to touch the cloud - which is connected to 'earth' on the Makey Makey and whichever raindrop sound you want to play at the same time. For the next version each cloud might play a different sound, ideally I'd like to incorporate the speakers into the wallpaper.

[samwatsondesign]

Electronic Paper

Thirty-five years in the making, electronic paper is now closer than ever to changing the way we read, write, and study. Original uses were electronic devices such as e readers, IPads and other products which could imitate paper, newer technologies have allowed designers and creative thinkers to come up with paper that uses small amounts of electricity to play music when the user touches an electronic touch pad buried inside the paper. These electronic papers are not only cheap and easy to produce but convenient and bring more fun and enjoyment to reading.

Printed Electronics is an emerging technology with huge potential to change the way we interact with each other and the everyday stuff that’s all around us. The field is growing and the UK is home to some of the world’s leading researchers. The principles behind Printed Electronics are straightforward, it involves printing basic electronic circuits and components onto pretty much any surface, but much of the current research is focused around flexible display screens and very high tech applications.

The video above shows how the music industry has grabbed the opportunity of using this new technology by creating new ways to listen to music. A couple of these ways shown in the video are music postcards and paper head phones which are recyclable; this is one of the great attributes of this technology.

Another way the music industry is promoting itself with the use of paper electronics is with the use of posters like the ‘Listening Post’(above), this interactive poster plays a short clip of a local band’s music when a thumbnail image is pressed, sending an electronic signal through wires to a small speaker hidden under the surface of the paper. Tickets can also be booked via the poster. More on the ‘Listening post’ can be found here: http://www.uniform.net/thinking-archive/paper-apps/