E-book readers are gaining popularity thanks to their capacity and potential for interactivity. Some people still prefer paper books for a variety of reasons, including the fact that they don’t require power. Engineers at Disney Research and Carnegie Mellon University hope that they can merge the best of both technologies with their energy harvesting “Paper Generators.”
Instead of using batteries to power an e-reader, the Paper Generators create electricity from human motion – touching, tapping, and swiping – combined with energy-harvesting structures.
In addition to giving us E-book readers that don’t require batteries, the engineers behind this technology suggest that it can also make books interactive by providing lights and sounds in response to user inputs. They also envision E-books that can send low-power wireless signals to a computer, creating interactive storytelling environments.
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