TALKING PAPER

A “talking print” featuring the voice of a kabuki actor (Toppan Forms Co.)
Electronic paper and other paper with innovative functions is now coming into use. Postcards that can talk have gone on sale, and a commercial poster that also serves as an electronic display carrying news and weather reports was recently trialed in a train station. Paper technology aimed at preventing the falsification of documents is also being developed. Researchers are striving to develop products that are as thin and light as paper but perform a range of functions. Paper is finally entering the IT age through a fusion with digital technologies.