Polyera announces the development of a truly flexible display. The company said, as part of the announcement, that it plans to offer the technology to developers as soon as next month. First units of the flexible display are expected to be delivered to its select partners in December.
Polyera also said that it is planning to deliver the Wove Band wearable smart gadget to customers around the middle of next year. The company states that the Wove Band is made possible due to technology it has developed that it calls Polyera Digital Fabric Technology. This allows for the entire screen to bend.
The technology was developed over the course of ten years. The screen and the thin-film plastic-based electronics behind the screen are flexible and can bend without breaking.
Up to date, several companies have been working on developing such truly flexible screens. Among them are included some of the biggest names in the business, such as Samsung and Apple. However, thus far no other competitor has been able to design a way to create such a mass produced item at a reasonable price.
Polyera claims that it has succeeded by combining E-Ink flexible electronic ink film with its own technology. It is unclear yet if the screen will only work as a dedicated product or could be used as a form of a smart watch. In any case, the electronically displayable material could be bent, rolled up and put in the pocket, or even allow for the creation of a host of products seen thus far only in sci-fi movies.
As E-Ink does not require any power at all, another advantage of devices based on the new screen technology is that they would require very little power. Once loaded, an image could be displayed indefinitely without consuming battery power. According to Polyera, other companies will create devices using their new technology, leading to newly inspired products for consumers.
