Papertab: Is Flexible, Paper-Thin Device The Future Of Tablet Technology? [VIDEO]

By Connor Adams Sheets | January 09 2013 4:17 PM

The Papertab, a flexible, paper-thin tablet unveiled to the international tech community Tuesday at CES 2013, is a groundbreaking device. But is it the future of tablet technology or just a passing fancy designed to wow attendees of the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show, or CES?

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The Papertab, a flexible, paper-thin tablet, was unveiled to the international tech community Tuesday at CES 2013.

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Much of the midweek buzz at CES 2013 in Las Vegas seems to suggest that the former will prove to be the case, as attendees have been raving about the gadget, saying that it is the long-awaited arrival of a bendable, paper-thin tablet device with the ability to perform many tasks beyond simply reading, as has for some time been possible on super-thin e-ink readers.

Journalists, techies, gadget-lovers and industry folks had their first opportunity to hold, use and test the PaperTab this week at CES 2013, and it has caused quite the stir, with glowing reviews appearing on a number of top tech sites and blogs.

The buzz is spreading virally as well, as a Stuff.TV article on the tablet rose to the front page of Reddit Wednesday, prompting hundreds of users to read about the device, many of whom offered positive comments about the possibilities created by the advent of such a groundbreaking technology.

According to Information Week, PaperTab was developed via a partnership between tech giant Intel, researchers at the Queen's University Human Media Lab in Canada and the English tech company Plastic Logic, all of whom worked together to conceptualize, design and manufacture a working model of a flexible-touchscreen tablet that uses the power of hand gestures to control the device's functions, from sending emails to leafing through documents.

Driven by an Intel i5 processor, Mashable reports that the PaperTab, which is black-and-white and has to be plugged in to be used, may still be in its prototype phase, but that didn't stop Plastic Logic CEO Indro Mukerjee from talking it up to the tech site:

"Plastic Logic's flexible plastic displays are completely transformational in terms of product interaction. They allow a natural human interaction with electronic paper, being lighter, thinner and more robust compared with today's standard glass-based displays," Mukerjee said.

Turning pages on the device is a breeze, according to Stuff.TV, which reports that such interactions are controlled by bending the device's corner upward or downward, and it apparently allows for linking multiple PaperTabs together in order to display more documents or expand the surface area.

Press play below to watch a YouTube video of the PaperTab in all its glory: