Into the Future: Upcoming Technologies
Over the holiday season, I had the opportunity to watch the "Back to the Future" trilogy for the first time in many years. The future in "Back to the Future Part II" takes place in 2015. While we won't own one of the flying cars or hoverboards portrayed in the film by then, the filmmakers did accurately predict our flat-panel, wall-mounted televisions. Sometimes the future does live up to expectations!
While browsing the latest imaging industry news, I noticed some innovative technologies that are breaking new ground. They might not all make it in the market, but it's intriguing to get a glimpse of what the future holds.
Already Here: Lexmark Genesis
Besides its sleek vertical orientation, the new Lexmark Genesis all-in-one printer introduces Flash Scan technology, which allows you to convert a document to a digital file in as little as 3 seconds. This scanning technology is essentially a 10-megapixel camera that can capture a document instantly, and the 4.3-inch color touch screen immediately displays a preview. With an internet connection (computer and router required), the Lexmark Genesis touch screen also allows you to access Lexmark SmartSolutions to view and print web content or create 1-touch applications to simplify routine tasks. Although a 10-megapixel resolution is not the highest quality, it's good enough for most scans and I'm sure as these printers further develop we will see higher resolution scanning. This device is being sold for $399 and is targeted at professionals, small businesses and home office customers.
Upcoming: Xerox Smart Document Review
It's not quite like the computer interface in "Minority Report," but the prototype for Xerox's smart document review technology is getting there. Developed at the Xerox Research Centre Europe, this technology allows a user or group of users to quickly sort and group similar documents using a touch-sensitive tabletop display that is more than 150 times larger than a typical smartphone touch screen. Using only your hands, documents can be moved around the screen to be placed side by side, scaled up or down, or piled in a corner—it's like working with paper documents with all of the capabilities and speed of digital files. Users can also teach the system what is important by pointing to a few relevant documents; the system will then automatically categorize and sort millions of documents in a fraction of the time it would take to do it manually. This technology is designed for document-intensive industries, such as the legal industry, where this technology allows attorneys to examine a few evidence documents, indicate which ones are relevant to the case, and have the system scan the entire repository to automatically retrieve all documents that should be reviewed by a professional. The Xerox smart document review system combines two existing technologies for its basis: CategoriX, an automated document classification tool that is currently available as part of the Xerox Litigation Services suite of offerings, and a touch-table screen from PQ Labs. The prototype system is currently undergoing a customer pilot phase and will be further developed before commercialization.
Concept: Eco Printer by Sharsha Lee for Liteon Technology Corp.
Green initiatives are becoming increasingly more important. This concept Eco Printer is designed to extend the life of paper by allowing you to remove ink and print on the same sheet multiple times before it gets recycled. It uses ink composed of photographic materials that disappear after UV irradiation. The printer includes a UV irradiation device in the paper tray, which cleans the paper before it is printed on again. If used for casual prints that don't need to be kept for a long time, this printer could significantly reduce paper usage. The Eco Printer won a 2010 red dot design concept award.
If you've heard of any other up and coming technologies, or if you own a time-travelling DeLorean, leave a comment and let us know.
Posted by Emily Offshack on 01/05/2011