E Ink Corp., a developer and marketer of electronic ink technology for paper-like displays, and Vossloh System-Technik GmbH (VST), Kiel / Karlsfeld, a supplier of mobile and stationary passenger information systems, today announced an agreement to jointly develop electronic ink-based signage for the European transportation industry.
Reinhold Hundt, president of VST, believes the joint development agreement will have a significant impact on the transportation market. "We are developing a completely new generation of signage technology for the transportation market, which will exceed the visual performance parameters of the technologies available," said Hundt.
Under the terms of the agreement, E Ink will produce custom electronic ink display cells based on its new character and segmented display platform. Vossloh will develop the electronics and integrate the display cells into signage for the rail, bus and air travel markets. The two companies will commercialize the signs in the near future.
Electronic ink provides the superior look of ink on paper with the dynamic capability of an electronic display. Electronic ink displays are exceptionally thin and lightweight and require up to 500 times less power when compared to displays and monitors typically used in the transportation industry. In addition, because it contains the same coloring agents as normal ink and paper, electronic ink is three to six times brighter than reflective LCDs, exceeds newspapers in contrast ratio and reads easily from any angle in both dim light and full sunlight.
"One of the biggest challenges in developing signage for the transportation industry is ensuring that signs are easy-to-read in any type of lighting from any angle. Electronic ink is the ideal medium for many transportation applications because it has all of the qualities we look for in a display - readability; durability; thin, light form factor; ease of integration and ultra-low power consumption," said Werner Malcherek, executive vice president at VST. "In the future, through our development agreement with E Ink we hope to offer these advantages to our customers in the rail, bus and air travel markets."
"VST is one of the early adopters of our new character and segmented platform," said John Thorn, director of business development at E Ink. "We are excited to be working with Vossloh. Integrating our technology with their know-how in this space will allow us to extend the market for our electronic ink display technology beyond retail signage and into vertical markets such as European transportation."
E Ink and VST will discuss the benefits of this new display technology next week at the Air Transport and Travel Information Systems Conference and Expo (ATTIS) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At the conference, Malcherek and Thorn will present a paper titled "Display Technologies for Traveler Information Systems" on Wednesday, February 27 at 10:30 a.m. For more information about ATTIS visit www.attis.com.
E Ink Corporation was founded in 1997 to create a new medium for visual communications. E Ink's electronic ink display technology helps unleash the full power of our connected world by uniquely combining a paper-like reading experience with the ability to access information anytime, anywhere. E Ink's technology delivers the look, form and utility of paper encompassing broad design freedom, manufacturing flexibility and the ultimate in readability and portability. The company markets three types of displays: Ink-In-Motion displays for advertising and promotions; character and segmented displays for everything from signage to portable consumer products; and active-matrix graphical displays for smart handheld devices.
E Ink is a private corporation that includes among its investors and strategic partners VST, TOPPAN Printing Company, Philips Components, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Motorola, Inc., Lucent Technologies, Creavis GmbH, The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc., Havas (a division of the Vivendi Group in France), Langenscheidt Verlag, The Hearst Corporation, Atlas Venture, Applied Technology and Solstice Capital. E Ink is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has an office in Tokyo, Japan. For additional information, call 617-499-6000 or visit E Ink's Web site at www.eink.com. For more information about the character and segmented display platform, visit www.eink.com/cs.
Vossloh System-Technik GmbH (VST) which has its head office in Kiel is a leading IT company specializing in information and communications technology for rail transport companies in Europe. The company develops planning and management systems, operations monitoring and control systems, interlocking and signalling systems, passenger information systems and simulation systems. VST belongs to the international Vossloh Group, which has almost 5,650 employees world-wide and achieved a turnover of approx. 900 million Euros in 2001. For additional information visit VST's Web site at www.vst-vossloh.com.