
With a simple piece of paper, engineers create self-powered, wireless keyboard - based2
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-next-digital-tablet-could-be-made-paper-180975727/
======
martyvis
From the article :"So, the next time you’re about to crumple up a piece of
paper and pitch it into the trashcan, you might want to think twice. You could
very well be tossing out an important piece of technology"

Why do reporters still persist with these silly signoffs, that are actually
wrong. ( They do it on the evening news as well as these pop science things).
The paper you throw in the bin today is actually of no further use to anyone.
Just like the glass of water you are drinking isn't going to be used to make
hydrogen gas for a car, nor sandcastle you just built for silicon in the
latest integrated circuit.

~~~
Angostura
I believe it is called "humour"

~~~
pacamara619
Doesn't that involve funny things?

~~~
Uberphallus
Only if you're knowledgable in the field of the joke.

------
sthnblllII
The lack of details is infuriating. It makes it sound like they implemented a
compliant bluetooth chip at 1/1000th the cost size and power of commercial
solutions.

~~~
shakna
The actual paper [0] does have some decent details, though it is somewhat
heavy.

[0]
[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105301](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105301)

~~~
davidhyde
Too bad they published it through Elsevier. I would have liked to read their
paper.

~~~
CamperBob2
That's what sci-hub.tw is for.

~~~
sebmellen
Doesn't appear to be there yet. See [https://sci-
hub.tw/10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105301](https://sci-
hub.tw/10.1016/j.nanoen.2020.105301).

------
yjftsjthsd-h
A simple piece of paper... With circuits printed on it. Kinda neat tech,
totally clickbait title.

~~~
eikenberry
I was expecting different click-bait, like a keyboard drawn on paper with a
camera pointed at it or something.

~~~
Izkata
How about a laser-projection bluetooth keyboard?

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmKdtAePxy8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmKdtAePxy8)

They've been available for a few years now.

~~~
gertlex
Fun fact: they've been available for over a decade at this point. I wouldn't
be surprised if it goes back a few years more than this 2008 article. Never
personally used one, though.

[https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/geeky-gadgets-the-bluetooth-
la...](https://www.geeky-gadgets.com/geeky-gadgets-the-bluetooth-laser-
virtual-keyboard/)

~~~
freeone3000
Ain't great. You can only type certain keys at a time since the beam-break for
j prevents a follow-up n in the denounce period. I only get about 30wpm...
Disregarding feedback.

~~~
cgriswald
It could probably be done now just by looking at hand shapes and if you’re a
touch typist you might not even need the projection, just a dot or two (which
could just be stickers on a surface) to orientate your hands over nothing.

~~~
freeone3000
Hand shapes for typing are far from standardized or recognisable. Nowhere near
the accuracy a laser beam break gives you. (The projection LED is separate
from the detection laser, which is much lower power)

------
Aardwolf
Imagine if this were not a piece of paper, but a mechanical keyboard where the
clicky action of the keys generates enough energy for the self powered
wirelessness!

~~~
jrockway
That exists... sort of: [https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us/p/hue-tap-
switch/046677473...](https://www.philips-hue.com/en-us/p/hue-tap-
switch/046677473365)

------
vsskanth
Can anyone ELI5 this for me ? I am unable to access the paper and the abstract
is way too technical for me to make sense. If I understand this right, they
are using friction to generate power, but how are they doing Bluetooth
wireless transmission ? Is the bluetooth circuit and antenna also printed on
the paper ?

~~~
ramoz
I worked on a project with Novalia a few years back, they have a simple way of
explaining their tech:
[https://www.novalia.co.uk/platforms/](https://www.novalia.co.uk/platforms/)

We needed a small battery coin for some unique interactions, not sure if that
was needed, & not sure/didnt read what Purdue is doing different with self-
power.

------
ineedasername
They did that with a "simple" piece of paper? Imagine what they could do with
a "complex" piece of paper!

More seriously, we've seen attempts to make flat keyboards [0]. The lack of
haptic feedback limits them to niche devices. If they can do more than just
input devices though, I'd be much more interested.

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/AGS-Wireless-Projection-Bluetooth-
Sma...](https://www.amazon.com/AGS-Wireless-Projection-Bluetooth-
Smartphone/dp/B00MR26TUO)

~~~
sosborn
Would you consider soft keyboard implementations in modern smartphones as
niche applications?

~~~
wyattpeak
Soft keyboards have haptic feedback. But that aside, they also have a bunch of
accommodations to make up for their inferiority. Dynamically-sized keys,
automatic typo correction, Swype.

------
rcarmo
This has a certain “Diamond Age” vibe to it. I’m all for single-function
devices as individual pieces of “smart” paper.

~~~
andylynch
Add a smart ink layer to this and you do have the beginnings of an Illustrated
Primer.

~~~
rcarmo
Precisely. ;)

------
drewm1980
I remember reading about highly fluoronated compounds that are both oil-phobic
and hydrophobic being an looming ecological disaster because they last
practically forever. Supposedly they were (still are?) used in pizza boxes.

~~~
drewm1980
Ah yes, aspoly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, now banned by the
FDA. Not sure if that's what they used here, but it sounds similar.

------
retox
From the headline I thought it was related to a video I saw years ago for a
television remote control from a French (I think) hardware engineer. It was
only a prototype but it replaced the batteries with a piezoelectric mechanism
that generated enough of a charge from physically depressing the button to
send the infrared signal. Probably not enough power there to reliably send a
bluetooth signal though.

~~~
pontifier
There are wireless (rf)light switches that use that mechanism so as to not
need batteries.

------
withinboredom
Maybe "spell books" in ancient "history" were just interfaces for the time
travelers.

~~~
codebje
Scott Meyer's "Magic 2.0" series is more or less this idea.

------
nicexe
The magic factor is too strong and in a bad way. It seems to defy fundamental
constraints of physics.

Am I expected to believe that friction caused by pressing your finger on paper
can supply enough power to make a successful bluetooth transmission?

------
sam_goody
Short on details from the article, but if there is a way to make the keyboards
thinner, I have no doubt Apple will be on it.

Maybe with three pieces of paper there will be enuogh room to feel the
"travel" and feedback?

