Digital Clock as Thin as Paper

Elitist_Phoenix writes "Citizen Watch has created a clock that is Paper thin! This unique design is enabled by E Ink Imaging Film. In addition to the fact that no backlighting is required, the display also has an inherently stable memory effect which requires no power to maintain an image - both of which drastically increase the battery life. The result is 1/100 the power consumption of traditional display options. Citizen Watch Co. and T.I.C.-Citizen Co. have not yet announced a launch date for this product, but it is expected to be commercialized in Japan in 2005."

Woohoo!

[kc32]

Now I can lose my watch that much easier!

Why Not...

[Greyfox]

Why not just staple it to yourself? Then it wouldn't get lost. And you wouldn't need a band. The benefits are many!

Re:Why Not...

[Hogwash McFly]

About eight to ten years ago I remember reading a newspaper article that showed an ultra-thin LCD watch being inserted underneath a few layers of skin. The fact that it was only covered by a few layers meant that it was perfectly visible in normal conditions, like a tattoo. I also think that they said it would run off the body's natural energy.

As a result, you had a digital watch underneath your skin that was fully waterproof and never had to have batteries changed or anything. Just glance down at your wrist and BAM! God knows what they planned for daylight savings time and such.

This was frickin' years and years ago. It's funny to think that nothing ever came of it.

Re:Why Not...

[NitsujTPU]

The only think that I can picture coming out of such tech, until bod-mod involves replacing your teeth and things that are a bit more Gibsonesque, is a couple interesting newspaper stories.

Of course, clubbers in Spain are getting implants to get into bars, [prisonplanet.com] so, perhaps there's hope.

Re:Why Not...

[Anonymous Coward]

Just glance down at your wrist and BAM!

BAM!? What... you walk into a tree?

Re:Why Not...

[Deluge]

That's easy - until they can make a goddamn watch that can keep time accurately which isn't a $3000+ Swiss Certified Chronometer (this means you, Timex, and you, fucking 2 minutes/week slow $130 Casio), then you'd always be poking yourself to set the bloody thing to the right time. I'm guessing the radio receiver and circuitry req'd for it to receive accurate time from, say, the cell network would be a little larger than the clock itself.

Re:Woohoo!

[hyc]

This is a wall clock, not a wrist watch. It is 1 meter wide.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/2005 0 616/105862/ [nikkeibp.co.jp]

For a clock like this the electronics are still brain-dead simple because the digits are still only seven segments each. But they surely can't be far behind with a 1-meter wide high resolution flat screen monitor. Now *that* would be seriously cool, with the 180 degree viewing angle and all the other goodies. And if they put it in a flexible mount, you could just roll it up into a p

Neat!

[mister_llah]

I wonder if they will wind up putting little clocks into notebooks... that'd be really cool, I wouldn't have to have a watch anymore!

(I hate them, they rub on my wrist when I try to type)

I 3 technology *swoon*

Re:Neat!

[jrockway]

> I hate them, they rub on my wrist when I try to type.

I have the same problem. The first thing I do when I get to work is to take off my watch and put it somewhere where I won't forget to put it on before I go home. I love the idea of a watch (and I feel like a moron blankly staring at my wrist when I forget to wear one), but if I'm somewhere where there's a clock the lack of comfort annoys me and I take it off :)

(It's a bit too tight, but I lost the extra chunks of metal I would need to make the st

Re:Neat!

[Rii]

Well, why not get this grafted into your arm? Just look at your wrist and see the time.

Unfortunately, this could lead to your damnation if you put it on the back of your right hand and you're alive during the end times and you're not a christian before the rapture and it says 6:66 because.. uh... the antichrist likes metric time?

Re:Neat!

[sonamchauhan]

> 666 is a mistranslation. The number of the Beast (Caligula) is 616.

No, it's 666 and the "beast" and "false prophet" refer to future people.

Re:Neat!

[sonamchauhan]

:-) Gee, Thanks

Re:Neat!

[Feztaa]

what you need is a watch with a velcroe/nylon strap. My watch wraps right around my wrist comfortably, nothing but nylon touching my skin. no pointy metal bits, just pure synthetic comfort ;)

(the other advantage of velcroe is that it's an analogue-type "adjust it to exactly the point where it fits" type thing, as opposed to the digital "pick a notch that fits, though invariably one will be too loose and the next tightest is too tight").

Re:Neat!

[LordEd]

...wind up putting little clocks into notebooks...
...they rub on my wrist when I try to type

are we talking notebook computers? Isn't there already a little clock on the screen in the lower-right corner (in both windows and linux)?

Re:Neat!

[Anonymous Coward]

My powerbook has a clock in the UPPER-right corner. That's how I know it's better than windows.

Re:Neat!

[pyrrhonist]

So does my Gnome...

Where did you find a Gnome [yimg.com] with a built-in clock?

Re:Neat!

[fbjon]

My Gnome sent me a post card from Guatemala, and it clearly is wearing a wristwatch in the picture.

Re:Neat!

[SinaSa]

I'm a console user you insensitive clod!

Re:Neat!

[Froze]

$ man -k vcstime
vcstime (1) - Show time in upper right hand corner of the console screen

Now you don't have to feel left out.

Re:Neat!

[MikeFM]

I'd like to have it on my wall especially if they could hook an indoor/outdoor thermometer up to it. It sounds like it is easier to read than most such devices and would be low power so I'd not have to change the battery very often. I wonder if they could make it into a poster. Such that a normal poster with a clock somewhere in the picture would show the real time. That'd be fun.

Re:Neat!

[tricorn]

Make it a nice big poster with a great shot of Big Ben, but the clock hands move in real time!

Seriously, at some point technology like this will be cheap enough that having a moving picture poster (that doesn't need to update very quickly) will be relatively inexpensive. I wonder if there's a market for posters that change with the seasons or the time of day (either pre-stored or updated over the network). A poster showing the Golden Gate Bridge, or the Colorado Rockies, or Yosemite, or the surf conditio

Re:Neat!

[MikeFM]

Real-time digital paper would be really awesome. I'd love to have streaming cameras hooked to posters or even wallpaper. I could be sitting in the office and see a live feed of the beach on my wall. That'd be fun. It is similar to watching a feed on tv but IMO it'd be much better from paper as it'd be less bulky, easier on the eyes, and use less electricity. (Hopefully be cheaper too.) Having the whole wall act as your screen would be cool even if it wasn't as clear as your tv/monitor and didn't refresh as

Re:Neat!

[game kid]

I wonder if they will wind up putting little clocks into notebooks... that'd be really cool, I wouldn't have to have a watch anymore!

Especially in college, with all sorts of essays and typing. My watch tends to bump into things. (I buy 'em cheap so I need not worry.)

I 3 technology *swoon*

I was about to ask if you heart and not three technology, but I too sometimes think this is a plain-text comment thingy. Things like < must be written as &lt; here (or select Plain Old Text in the HTML Form

Re:Neat!

[KillerDeathRobot]

You can set it in your preferences to always format as plain text.

Re:Neat!

[EvilNTUser]

Multipurpose portable computing devices with built in clocks already exist. They're called mobile phones, and are a lot lighter than notebooks...

Re:Clock Technology & Chinese Military

[X0563511]

Dammit, I just wasted my last mod on a +1 Funny that was only a little funny. Could have been better spent modding this trash down.

Wow...

[chriswaclawik]

I can't wait to see when these same guys make a single sheet of paper as thick as a digital clock! It would be sweet. I don't think I see many uses for it though...

Re:Wow...

[pete-classic]

It's in the works. I dug up a shot of an enginering prototype [stmarys.ca]

Someone also seems to be working on a clock that's made from a piece of paper that's as thick as a clock [gizmodo.com]

I hope this helps.

-Peter

Re:Wow...

[EvilMidnightBomber]

I can't wait to see when these same guys make a single sheet of paper as thick as a digital clock

You have to go to Soviet Russia to buy those.

Re:Wow...

[Rhinobird]

I imagined a beowulf cluster of these and it looked like a trapper keeper

Re:Wow...

[Feztaa]

We already have that, it's called stone tablets. You chisel them with, well, chisels. They went out of style some time in the 70s, with the introduction of the stone tablet-less office.

Re:Wow...

[MarkRose]

I heard there was a factory that made that product, but due to low demand, it's all boarded up now.

Re:Wow...

[Lonewolf666]

I think it would be an awsome invention, and it might be called "cardboard"

In other news...

[nxtr]

Paper-thin redefined as cardboard-thick!

Re:In other news...

[serutan]

Maybe it's actually "wafer-thin" as in mints.

Best ever

[Ceirren]

This could make the best t shirt ever. Of course you could probably never wash it, but who cares if you smell. You'd be too pimpin for people to complain.

Re:Best ever

[NanoGator]

"This could make the best t shirt ever. Of course you could probably never wash it, but who cares if you smell. You'd be too pimpin for people to complain."

Sounds like the perfect Think Geek product!

Re:Best ever

[NitsujTPU]

Yes, it is; because that thing is horrific.

Re:Best ever

[Carthag]

Think of the possibilities. How about a shirt with a USB port & flash memory so you could put all kinds of crazy pics on your shirt. Or possibly some sort of scripting language for ever-changing fractals. Now that would be cool.

Re:Best ever

[No Such Agency]

How about a shirt with a USB port & flash memory so you could put all kinds of crazy pics on your shirt. Or possibly some sort of scripting language for ever-changing fractals.

Considering the typical first uses of a new technology, I actually forsee people walking around with short porn videos looping on their shirts.

Re:Best ever

[Rufus211]

That'd almost be as cool as the VU Meter shirt:
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/0057 02.php [we-make-mo...ot-art.com]

Re:Best ever

[Nermal6693]

Um, you can still shower. It's not like you can't take the shirt off.

Cost

[BrianGa]

Anyone have any estimates as to the price of this clock?

Re:Cost

[Cylix]

That particular clock...

Who boy...

Probably fairly expensive, at least, more then you can afford.

Let's hope the consumer variant will be affordable.

I want wall paper with a changing pattern made out of it.

"Paper thin"?

[killa62]

Another example of a paper thin watch is one showcased by Seiko around two months ago.

linky: http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/clocks-and- watches/seikos-epaper-watch-prototype-039344.php [gizmodo.com]

Linky past the linky

[nuntius]

Actual "article" here:
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20050 401/103334/?ST=english [nikkeibp.co.jp]

When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[CyricZ]

Does anyone know when this technology will be viable for use in PDAs and cellphones screens?

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[CyricZ]

We don't want it used there. Then it'll be all full of alternating advertisements.

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[CyricZ]

You're right, it wouldn't be too appealing to be eating breakfast, and then a gaping anus shows up on the cereal box. Or even worse, a penis infected with STDs and corn flakes stuck to the wounds.

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[AaronLawrence]

Why do you think it looks terrible?

According to this review [dottocomu.com] it is great.

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[bhtooefr]

Reading that review... is there a way to mod it?

Ah, never mind - it looks like MAKE magazine has done it...

Seeing their pics... DAMN! The resolution on that is... BEAUTIFUL!

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[hyc]

The screen may look great, but the DRM on that thing makes it a total joke. But here's something interesting from that review page:

This article
http://books.guardian.co.uk/ebooks/story/0,11305, 1 200034,00.html [guardian.co.uk]

mentions that the device runs on "Sony Linux" - if Sony is using any version of Linux in devices that they're mass marketing, then right now they are either violating the GPL, or somewhere they have an FTP site where you can download all of the source code for operating this device. If the former,

Re:When will we see this technology in PDAs?

[bw5353]

It's already used in an e-book product from sony.

It's hardly the same technology, is it? Sony's ebook is far from paper thin. The screen is very sharp and pleasant, but it is about 5 mm thick, as far as I remember.

Time to update an old saw

[Chairboy]

I guess we can accurately now say:
Even a stopped Citizen ePaper clock is right twice a day.
This assumes that it's on 12 hour mode, of course.

How about...

[teutonic_leech]

... wallpaper full of these things?

E Ink is much cooler than just this

[TheGuruMan]

Although both the story and this post are blatant plugs for a proprietary technology, the stuff they use for this clock (E Ink) really is quite cool, and can be used in many other gadgets.

For example they are building bendable 200dpi grayscale screens [nikkeibp.co.jp] and some Xbox game boxes [eink.com] are using it to create an animated picture on the side of the box.

I wonder how long it will be before these take over the world, and the sci-fi idea of every billboard and poster being animated becomes real? Maybe when the Pentium VI 10GHz Powerbook comes out, it'll have a screen that can be rolled up and put into your pocket?

Re:E Ink is much cooler than just this

[Lisandro]

Just what i always wanted, animated advertising so cheap that it can be plastered anywhere. Something tells me [imdb.com] it might not be a good idea though...

Re:E Ink is much cooler than just this

[Cap'n Crax]

Yes, this company (at eink.com [eink.com]) has a fairly amazing new product. I would love to invest in them, but they are a privately held company.

It works like a sort of like a high-tech 'etch-a-sketch,' magnetic charged particles stick to the screen in either black or white (negative or positive charge) and STAY there until the image changes. So power is needed only for the image changes. This clock is the first example I have seen here on Slashdot, but Boing Boing recently showed an e-Book reader using this same tech. Sony branded, I believe.

In my opinion, the e-Book use is the IDEAL use for this. I have never seen it in action, but from all reports, it looks and 'acts' like paper, easily readable, just black text on a white page. The sony device looked very interesting.

Here, I found a bunch of pictures. Japan only so far, but what new tech isn't...

GALLERY OF E-BOOK PICTURES [dynamism.com]

Re:E Ink is much cooler than just this

[K8Fan]

Finally! Negroponte has been blithering about this technology for what seems like decades, and it's never appeared as anything other than vapor.

Imagine millions of huge animated billboards!

[Senor_Programmer]

Smoking cigarettes.
Draining vodka glass juxtaposed with dress coming off attractive female.
Mating dogs.
Pigs turning into BBQ.
Hell, even PETA will be able to afford a stop action billboard of chickens being scalded alive.

I can't wait.

Re:E Ink is much cooler than just this

[rekenner]

Reading comprehension, class... "Powerbook"

welp

[cyrix]

Expect Flava Flav to start his own line of clock suits with this technology. YYYEEEAAAHHH BBBOOOYYY!!!!!!

Paperless Society

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the first major step to a digital newspapper. Walking around with a piece of paper that always has the lattest news (and or slashdot storys) would be convinient. Though it would acomplish the same task as a laptop a cheaper , low power consumption standalone , tangible papper would be an amazing consumer product. When the product makes it down to a reasonibly priced level(sub dollar) they will be used for memos buiness papers , homework. Merging this tecnology with touch screens is going to lead t

Re:Paperless Society

[bhtooefr]

Well, the Sony Librie now has an app available to convert web pages and newsfeeds to the native format, and anything you can print to a format that it can handle (but not the best format for the job).

Myself, I'd like to see a eInk PDF reader. That's all I want.

How much

[PakProtector]

How much to have one of these implanted right underneath my skin on my inner left wrist running off of electricity generated from my blood sugar?

I'd never need another watch.

Re:How much

[I don't want to spen]

eTattoos!

Re:How much

[dbIII]

running off of electricity generated from my blood sugar?

I'd never need another watch.

Just lots of Cola and insulin.

Re:How much

[CosmeticLobotamy]

Just take about 3.5 volts less insulin.

Imagine...

[Spy der Mann]

A beowulf book of these. :)

Re:Imagine...

[PakProtector]

I would go so far as to say that such a thing would be of epic proportions.

Re:Imagine...

[TummyX]

This thread is getting lame.

Re:Imagine...

[MarkRose]

But even a beowulf book of digital clocks would never be able to calculate anything in a timely manner.

I doubt...

[insignificant1]

that the entire clock is paper thin, but that just the display is paper thin. There is no mention of the crystal oscillator and other electronics being included in the package.

And as far as a crystal goes, the size is, generally speaking, directly proportional to its stability. So if the crystal is included in the "paper-thin" clock, you can count on it losing or gaining a minute or more a day.

As John Cleese would say:

[d3m057h3n35]

"But sir, it is only wafer thin..."

Is this the same as "Digital Paper"

[serutan]

Digital paper has been featured on Slashdot before but I can't find the reference. Fujitsu's prototype from this 2004 article [mobilemag.com] looks a lot more impressive than a thin digital clock.

So, twenty-six years later..

[Zwets]

So, twenty-six years after the publication of the Hitchhiker's Guide, and we still think digital clocks are a pretty neat idea.

Humanity is doomed.

I have a use for it already...

[pyrrhonist]

Citizen Watch has created a clock that is Paper thin!

This is awesome! I'm can't wait to use a bunch of these to build my paper clock [amazon.com].

pages and displays from Philips

[pbjones]

The same technology is set to be available as a display from Philips electronics

Digital watches are a neat idea

[samkass]

"[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] is a galactic bestseller everywhere except on that backward planet Earth, where they still think digital watches are 'A pretty neat idea'.""

card authorization

[sonamchauhan]

Hmm, this (or similar functionality) could be used by cards (credit/debit/payment/etc.) that stored a set of secret codes on the card and used them to derive authorization information that was displayed in time-sychronised fashion (like the RSA SecurID hardware token)

For even lower power consumption, the clock could be dispensed with, and the card could just display authorization derived using the last unused key. Such a card could probably use solar cells for power as some calculators do today.

It could a

Cool

[Spacejock]

I want a license plate made out of that stuff.

Japan's next wacky invention

[Ogemaniac]

How about a clock based on LED's that GLOWS in the DARK so you can see it at night? I seem to remember this technology in America, but apparently it has not made it across the pond. I have been looking since I moved here three months ago and have found nothing but battery-operated LCD and simple mechanical-arm clocks. Japan has this unnatural fixation with saving electricity, but this one particular issue drives me the battiest. Yes, an LCD clock uses less eletricity than an LED clock, though it is not

This technology may be very interesting...

[adamisklingon]

...utilised in tatoos. Think about it. A tattoo that tells time, a tattoo that changes expression according to your mood, hell, even a tattoo that can become a computer interface.

How did this get on Slashdot?

[David Horn]

Following the link in the story leads me to a page that tries to install an ActiveX control on my computer, apparently required for "Website Access".

The page won't even display for me in IE unless I agree to install the spyware / adware on my PC.

Gee, thanks, Slashdot, do your best to support these fucking inbreds. *Fires up FireFox to read the site anyway.*

Re:Nice fuckin' slashvertisement, Zonk!

[Saeed al-Sahaf]

It would be nice to see some less commercial info on this technology, maybe a white paper or something, whatever... But the technology is interesting.

But you, sir, are always free to submit stories you think are more "newsworthy". There's a link to the left...

Re:Nice fuckin' slashvertisement, Zonk!

[NitsujTPU]

Dude, how many academic papers have you read that are linked to Slashdot?

How many business white-papers?

Neither really represents the crowd of Slashdot. Perhaps the white-papers, but I can quite firmly state that there are very few articles on Slashdot linked to Nature, Science, conference proceedings, etc.

If you're interested in such things though, I've considered creating a site centered around them. Perhaps we could partner up.

Re:E-book

[ciroknight]

...reasonably priced, non-DRM'd, long lasting battery...

Pick two, then we'll talk.

Re:E-book

[typobox43]

I'll take reasonably priced and non-DRM'd. Where's my book?

Re:E-book

[bhtooefr]

Non-DRM'd, and reasonably priced. I can MacGyver a bigger battery in ;-P

Re:E-book

[Lehk228]

sure, make it compatable with standard document types, Doc, PDF, plaintext, and html

Re:haha

[kyle90]

I know I shouldn't respond to ACs, but I figured I should clear this up for anyone that happens to be reading. Electronic ink works by having microscopic charged spheres that are white on one side and black on the other. When an electric field is applied, the sphere flips over. But when the electric field is turned off, it stays how it is. So it only needs power when the image is changing.

Re:haha

[9mind]

As the IT manager of E Ink, I will inform you that most of our competitors technology works that way.... but ours does not.

As not to divulge anything I shouldn't be, check here http://www.eink.com/technology/index.html [eink.com] for a simple diagram of how it works.

I CALL BS

[ZosX]

I call BS. Most geeks wouldn't use alexa so it wouldn't likely rank very high. Personally I find it very sad that slashdot gets the traffic that it does on alexa. Must be a lot of slashdotters out there with this crap installed.

While the quality of slashdot is at best arguable, clearly they are still making money and going strong otherwise they still wouldn't be around.

Page ranking is a better indicator IMHO. Slashdot has a PR9 while Kuro5hin is PR7 IIRC.

Personally I found this interesting and can think

Re:I CALL BS

[Hack Jandy]

Sure youre arguments are valid. But it's still a fucking slashvertisement. HJ

Re:Gimmie low power pda

[bhtooefr]

Well, actually, I've heard of e-ink systems (for billboards) that are hitting 70FPS. That's not slow - my CRT refreshes slower (60Hz).

Re:Gimmie low power pda

[miyako]

if your CRT only refreshes at 60Hz you might think about increasing the refresh rate or buying a new monitor.
You'd be amazed at how much less eye-strain you have with a higher refresh rate. I used to use a CRT at 60hz, and I couldn't tell the difference when looking at a higher refresh screen, but when I got a new monitor with a decent >70Hz refresh rate, now I can't stand to use anything lower, I notice the flicker and notice the strain on my eyes.

Re:Gimmie low power pda

[bhtooefr]

Well, I need a new CRT, but I'd rather just use the LCD on my laptop.

The CRT's degausser is busted, there's lots of shimmering on the picture, the color reproduction is fscked, it's REALLY fuzzy, and it can't do a decent resolution (1280x960 or 1024) at anything more than 60Hz. Granted, it can do 1152x864 at 75Hz, and 1024x768 at 85Hz. However, this Dell can't drive the CRT at 1152x864 (it can drive it at 1280x1024, though), and even if it could, I wouldn't be able to use the LCD at the same time. I'm not

Re:Paper-thin?

[Nermal6693]

Just wait for Casio to make a big solid G-Shock version :)

Re:Dupe by association

[AdmiralWeirdbeard]

and wasnt there a story about the paper oled film they're using a few months ago on /.?

Re:Monitor next please

[Lonewolf666]

From what I've read about this technology, it is not very good at fast switching or fine color resolution.
You might, however, have better luck with OLED displays. Prototypes of those already exist, but the lifetimes are still to short for an economically viable product. When that is sufficiently improved:
Hello, new generation of PC displays!