Brilio.net/en - As wireless and hands-free technologies are taking over modern devices, Disney has made sure its name isnt forgotten with a breakthrough invention with the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The RFID is used in the chips of credit cards and is ultra-thin and inexpensive, which is an answer to the previous approaches that had trouble with circuit sizes, electronic wiring and power supply.
With the technology Disney found a way to turn a simple paper into a remote controlling device interface. As described in the name, the technology senses the signal from radio frequency of the electronic device and manipulates it via an RFID reader that is even DIY-able. The reader is also easy to make and can be printed with silver nano-particle ink from an inkjet printer, stencil-traced or hand-drawn with a conductive-ink pen, and has a set of conductive traces on paper with an RFID IC sticker put on it.
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Image viatechnabob.com
The antenna trace will then modify the behaviour of contiguous tags to serve as input devices. It can be used to sense 7 different movements, which are touch, cover, slide, swipe, turning knob, wave, and tag movement trajectories. The device can also use overlap of tags by conductive or dielectric (insulating) materials.
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The battery-free paper device can work as a dimmer to control the lighting. A baton wrapped with the tag can control the music rhythm when connected to a computer system. It can even create movement animation when the tag is attached to a pinwheel, where the tag works as the wind-speed sensor coupled with on-screen animation.
Image via youtube
Another simpler example of what it can do is act as an interactive pop-up card that is set to make animal noises so the kids can learn farming in a more fun way. It can also be used as a live polling system in the class where students may choose by marking the option. Of course, the ideas can expand into many more paper craft objects.
To develop this idea, Disney Research worked together with the University of Washington and the Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. The study involves a group of scientists, including: Hanchuan Li, Eric Brockmeyer, Elizabeth J. Carter, Josh Fromm, Scott E. Hudson, Shwetak N. Patel and Alanson Sample.