LCD magnets write their own poetry
by Marc Perton 
posted Jan 27th 2006 at 2:25PM
We've never had much luck with
those fridge magnets you're supposed to arrange to make poetry; maybe it's the fact that we've never been able to find
a set that includes terms like OLED, HD DVD or PCMCIA. But that may change now that Australian artist Pierre Proske is
working with the Viktoria Institute in Sweden to develop smart magnets. Each magnet is a 16-character LCD display that
communicates with other magnets; the displays can identify what part of speech they're showing, and use the information
to form poems on their own. And, fortunately, there's a manual override, in case you find that, say, the magnets are a
little too Hallmark for your sensibility: just take them off of the fridge, shuffle them and put them back to have them
form a new set of words.
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ThrustinJ @ Jan 27th 2006 2:39PM
They should really make them items in a grocery list and you tap them to light them up. Then they use bluetooth to print themselves out once a week and turn off.
You heard it here first folks.
aural @ Jan 27th 2006 2:47PM
that's awesome... i want some.
John Batdorf @ Jan 27th 2006 2:52PM
Wow.
I had posted an aricle on my blog about the Optimus keyboard that is utilziing similar OLED technology, but I had no idea that the technology was so thin.
I could see this used in vending machines, pricing on supermarket and store shelving, there are so many applications for this technology.
I can't wait to see it.
BigG @ Jan 27th 2006 3:11PM
Why not use ePaper? It would use less power and get the same results.
the gnome @ Jan 27th 2006 3:19PM
Because ePaper isn't paper, while eMagnets are (actually) magnets... :)
karurosu @ Jan 27th 2006 4:22PM
Once Apple gave magnets with words like iPod, HDTV, and other Mac related stuff. I have them somwewhere.
Just think about the possibilities: "Don't Touch My Beer!"
Yeah...
Dissent @ Jan 27th 2006 4:29PM
Whoopee, more emo-tastic gadgets. Spare me.
Bidera @ Jan 28th 2006 8:35AM
Biggest problem would be cost.
Sure as an artististic statement they might be kind of cool.
But for mass markets, the cost has to be way down. I am thinking $1-3 per magnet at most.
Meanwhile I think people will stick with these regular ones:
http://www.bidera.com/cgi-bin/us/emaximarket.cgi?action=item&item=20908