New high-tech displays are on the way.First of all, let me say that I don’t even know enough about technology to be dangerous. But I do love to observe. After reading a recent article in Business 2.0, I was quite captivated by the idea behind a new display technology called IMOD. The general idea is based on an observation of the way the brilliant colors of butterfly wings are reflected in nature. It’s a largely passive process when butterflies do it (requiring neither batteries nor hours of primping in front of a mirror) and in the same way, it uses just a fraction of what is used by current LCD and LED technologies.

The properties which make this kind of thing so exciting:

  • brilliant displays that can’t adjust and compete with whatever ambient light is available in your enviroment…even direct sunlight (see the pic)
  • incredibly low power consumption (effective uses no power whatsoever except when the image changes)
  • long life (while most of the technology is way too small to be seen by the naked eye, the general principle is simple enough that it should wear well over time)
  • adaptability (can easily be adopted across a wide range of platforms)

This is one of those technologies that you see and say, “Ah, yes…I can see where THIS is going!”

Here’s a brochure with a lot more info, for those who like this kinda stuff as much as I do.