Researchers Create Affordable Touch-Sensitive Paper

An e-Ink tablet is pretty great, but those tablets are fairly expensive with price tags crossing the $600 threshold. Fortunately, these researchers have created an amazing, cost-effective digital paper.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers came up with a touch-sensitive paper that could be the cheapest way to digitize writing at just $0.30 per sheet. To achieve this, the researchers added conductive materials to regular paper, either a carbon-loaded plastic sheet thats adheres to the paper and carbon loaded paint that can be sprayed on.

Once you attach a sensor board to the paper with the conductive layers, you get a make shift digital sheet that transfers your creativity to the screen. Touch it with a finger, a pen or a stylus, and it essentially becomes a “Moleskine” version of a Kindle. The researchers demonstrated a few applications, from grading tests to improving a board game.

“We believe this illuminates one possible approach for achieving low-cost, interactive, paper-based experiences in the future,” they said.