E-books in the back pocket? Yes you can, with a bendy e-reader

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E-readers don’t fit very snugly in the back pocket now do they, but that may be set to change with the invention of the bendy e-reader.

Researchers at the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan have figured out a way to make bendable electronics out of silk, with the potential of incorporating this into displays. The technology turns liquid silk into membranes that function as insulators for flexible thin-film transistors, and the inventors are now in talks about commercialising the system.

“We didn’t know at first that it would be the best material, but after a few months of tests we realized it was quite viable,” said university professor Hwang Jenn-Chang. “No one else has thought to try this, or at least no one else has succeeded.”

A company called Eleksen a few years ago tried to make electronics controllers out of fabric, but failed to gain traction for the idea despite initial excitement. But technology changes quickly, so maybe the time has come to get bendy.

ShinyJess

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