Programmable Electronic Ink Dresses: The Future of Fashion?

Electronic ink is a technology that exploded in the world of digital readers and wearable devices, but it still needs to evolve to reach other markets. One of those markets, believe it or not, is fashion. The flexibility and low power consumption of e-ink have led to the design of very striking dresses, including one presented by Dai Nippon Printing at the latest CES.

E-paper beyond the page

If you have a Kindle reader at hand (or an equivalent from another manufacturer), you already know the virtues of electronic ink. Easy to read, gentle on the eyes, low energy consumption—these are powerful benefits, yet they remain tied to significant limitations, starting with poor latency and, of course, the absence of color. In some cases, price doesn't help either (for example, the reMarkable tablet costs 600 dollars), turning what should be a widely accessible technology into something of a rarity. Perhaps it needs to prove its versatility even more, and at CES 2018 it appeared on very unusual platforms, such as walls and dresses.

Both products—the “living wall” and the programmable dress—were presented by DNP (Dai Nippon Printing), and designed with the Prism plastic film from E Ink, which incidentally also shared a “matador suit” at the convention (video below). I admit the model looks uncomfortable in the dress, and the slightly loose waist is probably a consequence of the material’s limitations, but it’s not bad for a prototype. At the same time, the dress generates no heat, and most impressively: it runs for up to three days on a single AA battery.

If the shifts between black, white and shades of gray seem dull, don’t worry, because E Ink already revealed prototypes in red and blue (with details... yellow? green?) throughout 2017. Now, how long will it take for these dresses to reach stores? That depends on the natural progress of electronic ink. The first market to receive color solutions will likely be advertising, since speed issues (a color panel takes five seconds to change its image) are not as critical there, but several years are being discussed.

Sources: Daily Mail and PCMag