PaperTab: An Ultra Thin, Flexible, E-Paper Touchscreen Tablet Debuts at CES 2013

PaperTab, a 10.7-inch screen tablet features a flexible e-paper touchscreen that looks and feels like a sheet of paper. Credit:Humanmedialab.org

An exciting technological advancement showcased at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) seems to be taking the world back to the past.  PaperTab, a 10.7-inch screen tablet prototype takes us back to the era of paper as the device features a flexible e-paper touchscreen that looks and feels like a sheet of paper.

In a revolutionary advancement in the history of computing, the device features a high-resolution plastic display that is virtually unbreakable and can be twisted, bent and dropped on a desk without any damage. Developed by Intel Labs in collaboration with the Human Media Lab at Queen's University in Canada and British firm Plastic Logic, the tablet is powered by the second-generation Intel Core i5 Processor.

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Unlike the tablets in the market today, with PaperTab, users can use only one app on a single display. However, if you own more than one PaperTabs, you can just pull up a file or send a photo by simply tapping on the screen with another. You can have a larger screen by placing one or more PaperTabs side by side. The game-changing device that features a screen consisting of sheets of paper instead of traditional glass-based display screens will revert to a thumbnail overview of the document when placed outside a reaching distance. You can even fast forward or rewind a video by bending the top corners of the tablet. The most exciting feature about the device is that it offers a magazine-like reading experience whereby users can navigate through pages like a magazine by bending one side of the display.

However, it should be noted that the device, although labelled a tablet, is not a full-scale computer but is merely a screen at this point as it requires to be connected to a process housed in an outside unit through cables. The brains behind the product said it would take at least three years to bring the final product to the market The future looks really flexible for the product as it offers a great deal of technological wonders with its potential to revolutionize the way people work with tablets and computers today.

Check out the video below to know more about the tablet. To learn more about the device, do visit Queen's University's human media lab website.