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Gyricon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gyricon is a type of electronic paper developed at the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). It has the same properties as paper: It's flexible, contains an image, and is viewable from a wide angle, but it can be erased and written thousands of times.
A Gyricon sheet is a thin layer of transparent plastic in which millions of small beads, somewhat like toner particles, are randomly dispersed. The beads, each contained in an oil-filled cavity, are free to rotate within those cavities. The beads are "bichromal," with hemispheres of two contrasting colors (e.g. black and white, red and white), and charged so they exhibit an electrical dipole. When voltage is applied to the surface of the sheet, the beads rotate to present one colored side to the viewer. Voltages can be applied to the surface to create images such as text and pictures. The image will persist until new voltage patterns are applied.
See the project description
As of 2005, Xerox closed down the direct subsidiary Gyricon LLC and is focusing on licensing the technology.