The work is designed to open up the market for printing memory on thin, flexible substrates which would then be used in a wide variety of products from singing gift cards to smart medical packaging, live toys, cash cards, and moving color pictures in electronic books. The two companies also see the prospect of interactive advertising in the printed press, speech-enabled food packaging that warns the consumer when the use-by date has elapsed, or museum tickets with embedded information for visitors. They believe low-cost mobile internet devices would be possible combined with GPS tracking facilities that keep track of children in large open spaces.
TFE has already worked with print-head developer Xaar to demonstrate proof-of-concept printed memory that could open up the way for print technology to make a major incursion into the manufacture of PCBs.
Solvay Solexis is a subsidiary of Brussels, Belgium-based chemical and pharmaceutical company Solvay Group. Under the agreement, Solvay Solexis could acquire production and commercialization rights to TFE’s memory technology.
