Office of the Future
It's hard to imagine doing away with paperââ,¬"sticky notes, receipts, newspaper articles, faxes, and so on. Still, that's exactly what Rich Gold, manager of Xerox's Research of Experimental Documents Lab at Palo Alto Research Centre, predicts will happenââ,¬"in about 20 years.
So what does a paperless office look like? It will collaborate digitally. Parts of the office will talk to each other, such as a desk to electronic paper. That desk will have 20 to 30 built-in computer screensââ,¬"digital scratchpadsââ,¬"eliminating the need for paper. A digital camera mounted in the desk will capture the space where any real paper might rest. So while you read that article or review that fax, your PC will automatically digitize it and file it away.
One futuristic office itemââ,¬"electronic paper invented at Xerox PARCââ,¬"is almost here. It's a thin sheet of plastic embedded with millions of tiny black-and-white beads that have opposing electrical charges. When the beads are charged in a printer, they rotate and transform into printed words.
Gold says this enhanced paper will eventually replace regular paper for displaying information you now retrieve from a computer. You would print documentsââ,¬"just as you do todayââ,¬"but when you're done you could put the paper right back into the printer for the next job.
While widespread use of electronic paper is at least five years off, some businesses are already reaping its benefits. Gyricon Media, a Xerox spinoff, sells the MaestroSign System, which uses electronic paper. This setup enables employees at stores like Macy's to quickly change what's displayed on signsââ,¬"prices, daily specialsââ,¬"from their computers. The system makes for more reliable, accurate pricing, and it allows the stores to respond faster to consumer whims.
Coming Soon
- Digital Scratchpads
Screens embedded in your workspace let you work without paper. - Automatic Archiving
A digital camera mounted above your desk scans and annotates all paper files. - Electronic Paper
Reuse this ultrathin charged sheet (made of plastic) again and again. - Printer and Paper In One
A more futuristic version of e-paperââ,¬"with no printer required.
