Siemens foresees revolution in consumer goods packaging in the near future

• Electronics maker Siemens is readying a paper-thin electronic-display technology so cheap it could replace conventional labels on disposable packaging, from milk cartons to boxes of Cheerios.
• In less than two years, Siemens says, the technology could transform consumer-goods packaging from the fixed, ink-printed images of today to a digital medium of flashing graphics and text that displays prices, special offers or alluring photos, all blinking on miniature flat screens.
• "When kids see flashing pictures on cereal boxes we don't expect them to just ask for the product, but to say, 'I want it,'" said Axel Gerlt, an engineer at Siemens tasked with helping packaging companies implement the technology.
• Siemens' paper-thin display -- composed of a polymer-based photochromic material -- is capable of displaying digital text and images when prodded by an electrochemical reaction powered by a low-voltage charge.
• When the electric charge is no longer applied, the chemical reaction is reversed, and the electronic ink is no longer visible -- which is how a flashing effect is created.
• The chemical reaction that must occur from the time an electric charge is applied until the picture is rendered is too slow for the instantaneity of video images that change in milliseconds.
• Reactions to the development by scientists familiar with the underlying science of Siemens' display ranged from cautiously optimistic to mildly skeptical.
• "The proof of the value of the new Siemens product will come if it can be manufactured consistently."
• Indeed, researchers have been looking at electrochromic materials for digital display applications for more than 30 years, but slow imaging-response time and device instability have been impediments to commercialization, said Jianmin Shi, an organic materials researcher who specializes in optoelectronic device applications for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland.