Technology

A few companies and organizations have recently announced that they’re finding new applications for traditional printing presses, inkjet printers and silicon ink. Not since Gutenberg’s famous invention has the printing industry seen such revolutionary changes. These new techniques have the promise of reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and improving the quality of life of many people around the world.

Kovio, a high tech company based in Sunnyvale, CA, has announced a method of using silicon ink with commercial printing equipment to produce electronic chips known as radio frequency ID (RFID) tags . The ink can be applied to flexible surfaces using traditional presses to print circuits in an efficient and cost-effective process. These tiny chips, which are used to help companies track products that they ship, will consume less energy and reduce costs from 15 cents to 5 cents by 2008. Kovio has signed a number of customers including Cubic Transportation, which manufactures fare-collection systems for public transportation.

Another innovator in the field of silicon ink has emerged in Santa Clara, CA. Innovalight is a venture-capital backed firm that has won many awards for its silicon ink process for printing thin-film solar power modules. Their proprietary ink recipe also promises to reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of traditional solar cells, which will hopefully allow solar power to become a more viable technology. According to Innovalight’s website, “The high cost of production of solar cells today has been one of the major factors inhibiting the overall growth of solar energy as a market. Innovalight has developed a silicon nanocrystalline ink that holds the promise to bring flexible solar panels to cost that could be as much as ten times cheaper than current solar cell solutions.”

Perhaps the most astounding of the newest printing technologies is in the medical field. Scientists are working on a technique to manufacture human skin cells using a printer similar to an inkjet. This article from Live Science describes the project, which is based in the UK and headed by Brian Derby. The process aims to use the patient’s own skin cells, multiply them, soak them in a nutrient-rich “ink”, feed them through a printer to be joined with a soluble plastic tissue scaffold for stability, then apply the new “skin” to the wound. The new technique could undergo clinical trials in as little as five years, and eventually scientists hope to produce commercial skin printers for use in hospitals. This amazing technology would be a godsend for patients and doctors alike, as it would revolutionize the way doctor’s interact with both patients and technology.

Another aspect of the printing world will be changed beyond recognition if industrial designer Yves Behar has his way. Behar is an award-winning artist and designer for fuseproject, and he works in many mediums and materials. His latest technological feat is something we expect to see in a living room near you. It’s called “The Dream Room”, and it consists of walls impregnated with LCD displays. This chameleon-like “digital wallpaper” can be changed to look like whatever you want. If you want mountain streams, sandy beaches, leopard print, or even plain old white with family pictures, the screens can project whatever your imagination can dream up. This floor-to-ceiling projections can create a trompe l’oeil that extends the landscape beyond the limits of walls. This, coupled with new touchscreen technology, could see you setting the room color, the thermostat, or even your alarm clock just by tapping your LCD walls.

While we aren’t yet calling the printing press dead, we at Talkibie are looking forward to watching how these new techniques affect our energy sources, our medical treatment, and even our interior decorating tastes in the future.

By Haley January Eckels