Meet PaperTab: A Tablet Like Paper

Following the trend in tech for lighter and thinner devices, a new tablet, the Paper Tab, may have taken the trend to the next level.  As its name suggests, this new tablet has the look and flexibility of a sheet of paper.  However, the PaperTab, developed by Plastic Logic, a company founded by researchers from Cambridge University, and in partnership with Intel and the Human Media Lab, is no ordinary sheet of paper.  It boasts an interactive touchscreen, high-resolution display, and an Intel Core i5 Processor.

Perhaps the most unique trait about the PaperTab is the way the user interacts with the device.  Rather than one single display with several apps or windows, as with most tablet devices currently in production, the PaperTab provides 10 or more interactive displays, or Paper Tabs.  Each PaperTab displays one open application.

Additionally, multiple PaperTabs can be placed side by side, in order to create a larger display surface.   As part of the interactive design feature, the PaperTabs track their location relative to the user and to one another, and intuitively respond.  When touched by the user, the PaperTab displays a full screen page view, but if placed out of the zone of the user, the PaperTab will revert to an app, or thumbnail view of a document.

The PaperTab is designed to respond intuitively to human behavior.  Users can attach files, send emails, and navigate through pages of documents using hand gestures, such as bending the top corner of the display.  The feel is similar to how one would naturally handle paper, as when reading a magazine.

For example, if a user wants to send a photo, the user can tap one paper tab showing the photo, to another PaperTab with a draft email, thereby attaching the photo.  The email can then be sent simply by bending the top corner of the display.   With both the familiarity and flexibility of paper, the PaperTab may be a breakthrough product in mobile computing devices.

[Image via news.discovery]