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My Papyrus

Papyrus is an ultraportable handheld electronic viewer for textual and graphic information which harvests operating energy from the sun and transparently links to other Papyrus or content servers in the area to share content. This solar networked information propagating paper-like display brings together the daylight readability and extremely low average power consumption of an electronic paper display, a solar panel to gather energy from light, and a Wifi/Bluetooth radio interface.

The readability and optical quality of an E Ink display are unparalleled, especially in high light conditions like outdoors during daylight hours. The 1024x768 8" diagonal high reflectivity screen used in the device offers 166ppi resolution at 16 gray levels, which translates to crisp, well rendered text and detailed grayscale images with a paper-like look. A high quality device of this nature can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 128kg and fresh water usage by 3543 liters per year by displacing the paper used for ephemeral content by a typical reader.

The screen uses zero power when holding a static image and has no backlight. In a typical usage scenario, this results in extremely low power consumption and allows for thin and compact product design. The lack of a backlight and polarizing films results in a slim 1.2mm thickness for the display module, and the low power characteristics of the display permits selection of 2.5mm profile lightweight lithium-ion batteries. These factors combine with aggressive industrial design to yield a total device thickness (with cover) of 8mm and a mass of 98g (without case).

Papyrus's main body contains the epaper screen, the RoHS compliant electronics package, radio, user interface, (Micro)SD card slot, and battery. Back and front faceplates made from potentially recycled and certainly recyclable aluminum alloy sandwich a molded core to form a laminated structure capable of sufficient strength and stiffness without the need for petroleum based high performance virgin polymers. The core section and radio window could instead be made from biopolymers or post consumer PET.

A thin film solar cell is built into the laminated aluminum integral lid of the product. In sunlight, the cell can harvest enough energy to allow a page turn every 2.14 seconds, or every 6.62 seconds if the radio is actively sharing content. Extra energy gathered by the photovoltaic panel is buffered in the small Li-polymer cell in the main body. No external provisions are made for charging the device from mains power, so 100% of the energy used by Papyrus is renewable. The lid is linked to the main body with a two element living hinge which conceals the electrical connections to the solar cell.

The ultralow base power consumption enabled by the selection of the electronic paper screen, coupled with the use of light as the sole energy input and displacement of massive amounts of paper use give this device a strong lead in the environmental impact category. Laminated metal/organic construction, design for reparability and long service life, and mostly recyclable components minimize the life cycle ecological impact of the device.