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Xerox Paper Erases Itself, Results In Temporary Documents On Reusable Paper
Xerox, November 27, 2006
Excerpts from the press release:
Xerox Corporation scientists have invented a way to make prints whose images last only a day, so that the paper can be used again and again. The technology, which is still in a preliminary state, blurs the line between paper documents and digital displays and could ultimately lead to a significant reduction in paper use.
The experimental printing technology, a collaboration between the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and PARC (Palo Alto Research Center Inc.), could someday replace printed pages that are used for just a brief time before being discarded. Xerox estimates that as many as two out of every five pages printed in the office are for what it calls "daily" use, like e-mails, Web pages and reference materials that have been printed for a single viewing.
Xerox has filed for patents on the technology, which it calls "erasable paper." It is currently part of a laboratory project that focuses on the concept of future dynamic documents.
While scientists at XRCC work on the chemistry of the technology, their counterparts at PARC - the birthplace of the laser printer - are investigating ways to build a device that could write the image onto the special paper. PARC researchers developed a prototype "printer" that creates the image on the paper using a light bar that provides a specific wavelength of light as a writing source. The written image fades naturally over time or can be immediately erased by exposing it to heat.
Temporary documents are part of Xerox's ongoing investments in sustainable innovation - or "green products" - that deliver measurable benefits to the environment, such as solid ink printing technology, which generates 90 percent less waste than comparable laser printers; more energy-efficient printers, copiers and multifunction devices; and other paper-saving innovations.
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