Flexible displays created by stretching crystals

As researchers continue to forge ahead in their quest to create commercially viable flexible displays, a new team from Canada has apparently unearthed a breakthrough of sorts. Reportedly, the crew has been able to conjure up a full-color display which boasts pixels made from photonic crystals, and by "bonding them to an electroactive polymer that expands when a voltage is applied to it," the colors of the pixels change. According to André Arsenault of the University of Toronto, the newfangled devices "can be viewed just as well in bright sunlight as in indoor light," and if all goes as planned, we could be seeing a whole lot more of these promising units "in as little as two years" when the startup Opalux looks to fit these bendable creations into billboards, handheld gadgetry, and anything else it deems fit.

[Image courtesy of MSNBC, thanks Alan]

[fernando @ Aug 24th 2007 6:45PM]

This is the future of technology - it's inventions like these that will launch us into another stratosphere of advancement.

Not to mention it looks absolutely bad-ass...

[tojo2000 @ Aug 24th 2007 7:11PM]

I wonder if it looks bad-ass?

[bla @ Aug 24th 2007 7:32PM]

Does it have a backlight i'll buy one when they add one.

[irishspoon @ Aug 24th 2007 8:04PM]

A backlight would be totally bad ass

[Emceay @ Aug 24th 2007 8:36PM]

Who needs backlighting when your wallpaper (in your house!) can be whatever design you want? DVD and game and book covers will be able to move. It'd be great to see this integrated into a paint.. electrify the canvas and the art changes color.

[DarkAardvark @ Aug 25th 2007 3:13PM]

i think the japanese had a paint similar to that a few years ago. i remember seeing it on a car.

[PM @ Aug 24th 2007 10:34PM]

How is this any different from OLED technology?

[Travis May @ Aug 24th 2007 11:34PM]

Well, OLED stands for Organic Light EMITTING Diode. Photonic crystals are used to control and manipulate the flow of light.

So, to sum up: Photonic crystals - need light, OLED - have light

[xc7x @ Aug 25th 2007 4:43AM]

i do believe it said it didn't need backlight either,unless i read wrong?

[Travis May @ Aug 25th 2007 5:04PM]

You're right xc7x. I belive photonic crystals can reflect or allow light thru depending on how they are used. Sort of like reflective and traditional LCDs.

[Kizul Emeraldfire @ Aug 24th 2007 10:45PM]

In before "But will it play Doom?" and "Will it blend?"

Seriously though, I agree with everyone else — in a word, this is awesome. :D

[Chris @ Aug 24th 2007 11:36PM]

No. It's fricken bad-ass!

[Jeff Morgan @ Aug 24th 2007 11:57PM]

Component number one for my invisibility cloak.

[Joseph @ Aug 25th 2007 12:47AM]

Any technology that allows me to bend kids' faces without going to jail is awesome in my book!

[Nesa Simon David @ Aug 25th 2007 7:15AM]

your book is badass!!!!

[Dan @ Aug 25th 2007 10:10AM]

All of these comments are bad-ass!