Epson's E-ink RFID tags

Privacy concerns aside, RFID has the promise to evolve into a disruptive technology (mostly by streamlining supply chains and inventory management) once production volume drives down costs enough to justify its implementation. Manufacturers are well aware of this, and are hard at work differentiating their tags from the competition's, as is evident in Epson's innovative RFID chip that incorporates a display using digital ink technology
from E-Ink. The electrophoretic effect (a little help here please, physics majors) allows the tag to display data without the use of batteries when activated by a RFID scanner. We imagine that someday this tech will be used to give consumers all sorts of important information about retail products, such as diplaying a "HAHAHA" when you sheepishly approach the checkout line with the Blu-ray disc of Richard Simmons's "Sweatin' With the Oldies: The Death Row Years."

[Thanks, Ed]