Flexible electronic paper could be available in colour as early as next year, allowing designers to create clothing, accessories and other products that double as display screens.
Commonly used on devices such as Kindle e-readers, e-paper has until now only been available in monochrome, restricting its appeal.
But advances in flexible e-paper technology mean that products such as shoes, watches and garments could soon feature full-colour text, patters and images that can constantly change.
Colour "is the next step"
"Colour is the next step that everybody's waiting for," said Matthew Laird, business development manager at Sony Europe.
"Next year [e-paper manufacturers] are talking about being able to be in a position to release coloured ink, and potentially it will change things a lot." Kindle e-readers are one of the common uses of e-paper. Photo is courtesy of Pexels
Laird made the comments at a Dezeen talk during London Design Festival. Held at the show space of paper brand GF Smith, the talk featured Laird as well as Sony Design art director Richard Small, GF Smith paper consultant Vanessa Fletcher and artist Supermundane.
The talk featured Sony's Fes Watch U, which has a strap and face made from a single flexible sheet of monochrome e-paper.
Both face and strap can display an endlessly changing sequence of images based on designs that can be downloaded from the internet in seconds.
Can be read in direct sunlight
E-paper is a digital technol...