Can an interactive paper revolutionise the print industry?

We are on the cusp of a sea change. Mobile computing is putting increasing pressure on the print industry, as the public continue to migrate to the web to consume news and media content. Tablets and smartphones are transforming the news industry as internet connected devices replace traditional mobile phones at an unprecedented rate, bringing the web to the palm of your hand at prices nearly everyone can afford. So what does the future hold for the humble newspaper? A research project called Interactive newsprint believes it has the answer.

Interactive Newsprint is a collaborative effort between Dundee, Surrey and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), that aims to integrate the rich media of the web into traditional news print, thanks to an innovative new form of internet connected paper. Working with technology company Novalia and funded by the Digital Economy (DE) Programme, the three universities are researching and developing printed electronics that work in conjunction with ordinary paper to add capacitive touch functionality to the printed page.

What’s more, the technology can be applied to more than just newspapers. With posters, leaflets and advertising signage all potential surfaces that could take advantage of interactive paper. The team at Interactive Newsprint have already produced several prototypes that can play audio content and interact with online polls and social media services simply by touching interactive areas on a page.

The paper is able to download additional content from the web, enabling the ability to update content even after distribution, provided the paper has a connection to the internet of course. Exactly how interactions with the paper are powered and internet connectivity achieved, has not yet been detailed.

Headed up by Paul Egglestone, Digital Coordinator at UCLan’s School of Journalism, Media and Communication, the interactive Newsprint team have been working in collaboration with local businesses and services to explore different designs and applications for the interactive paper.

I’m sure you’ll agree that this is an exciting idea, but now that we have such a diverse and affordable array of tablets and smartphones at our disposal – capable of producing everything an interactive paper ever could and more – is it too little, too late for paper? To a certain extent yes. Interactive paper will never stem the tide of public migration to mobile devices for consuming news, but that’s not really the point, nor is it the goal set out by its developers.

There are many practical applications for interactive paper in a wide variety of industries, such as education, advertising, tourism and of course news. For example: Imagine tapping on an interactive restaurant menu to find out details and ingredients for individuals dishes, or touching locations on a street map in a foreign country to hear the pronunciation of place names in your own language. In some situations paper is, and always will be, the most appropriate medium.

There are many scenarios where information is better served on paper than on an electronic device, and with that in mind, there is no doubt that this technology can, and will, have a place in the future of print media. Exactly how large a part it will play however, is still very hard to predict. The development of such a technology is exciting and is destined to lead to some ingenious applications in the future, and best of all, it’s being pioneered here in the UK.

The Interactive Newsprint team are expected to demonstrate new prototypes of their interactive paper at this year’s London Design Festival, running from the 14th – 23rd of September, across approximately 150 different venues spanning the length and breadth of the capital.

For more information about Interactive Newsprint’s technology and forthcoming appearance at the London Design Festival 2012 visit interactivenewsprint.org

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• stonedwolf

  I hate to say it but this is an article that belongs in Rentoul’s “Questions…” blog.

• A_Bloke

  Very interesting but why doesn’t the vid show the tech being used? I’ve got so many questions about it, about how it works, how responsive it is, etc and this article and the website answer none of them! And why the big focus on community news? What about a e-pad that displays pdfs A4 size, that you can annotate with a e-pen? Now that would be really handy and would take the workplace by storm.

• Pacificweather

  Do you remember the TV programme Tomorrow’s World and how many inventions on it became a reality? This is a Tomorrow’s World invention. But it will probably get used for something more useful eventually.

• julianzzz

  Even Orwell couldn’t have imagined that all books could be erased at a touch of a big brother’s button.

• stonedwolf

  I remember one of the first natural-sounding artificially created instruments, a trumpet, their trick being even the same notes in the same key were varied slightly, like a musician. All very high-tec stuff, now it’s technology that competent amateurs release for free on the Internet.

• http://gplus.to/alexmasters Alex Masters

  It is essentially a research project in the early stages of development and prototyping, hence the lack of detail about how it works.

  There were additional videos available that documented the technology, however these were removed a couple of days ago, most likely due to the fact that new prototypes will be presented during the London Design Festival with differing features. The previous footage would therefor provide inaccurate information.

  One of the aims of this article is to raise awareness and spark interest in both the research project itself and also London Design Festival, where you will be able to experience the technology for yourself and learn about the latest innovations being developed by the Interactive Newsprint team.

• A_Bloke

  Right I see, but I don’t live anywhere close to London so won’t be able to go. I have long imagined an e-pad that showed pdf’s and word docs real size and have thought a lot about how it would work so to read of a tech which seems to offer the promise of something like that, but to not get any info is frustrating. Any change of a follow up article once the design festival has been?

• http://twitter.com/ileddigital Jon Rogers

  Well – we’re at 4 Cromwell Place as part of London Design Festival all this week demonstrating it to people if they want to come and play with it. You can also see a more recent user testing reaction to our latest version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4siuSErbTQ

  Happy to demo / chat / and continue the discussion…

  Jon