Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Invention: Furry TV - tech - 23 April 2007 - New Scientist Tech

Invention: Furry TV - tech - 23 April 2007 - New Scientist Tech

Furry vision

How would you like to watch a television screen that is also soft and pleasant to the touch? Welcome to Furry TV. It's no joke: consumer electronics company Philips says a single pixel can be made out of a piece of fabric covered with hair-like strands.

Here's how it works: imagine the fabric is red and the hair is blue. With the hairs lying flat obscuring the fabric beneath, the pixel looks blue. But applying an electrostatic charge causes the hairs to repel each other and stand on end.

This reveals the fabric underneath and changes the pixel from blue to red. With an array of pixels, Philips says it should be possible to build a furry display that can show complete images. The company hopes to build furry displays into outfits. But does that mean we would all have to dress like Teletubbies?

Read the full Furry TV patent application.

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