A flexible screen inspired in part by squid can store and display encrypted images like a computer—using magnetic fields rather than electronics. The research is reported in Advanced Materials by University of Michigan engineers.
“It’s one of the first times where mechanical materials use magnetic fields for system-level encryption, information processing and computing. And unlike some earlier mechanical computers, this device can wrap around your wrist,” said Joerg Lahann, the Wolfgang Pauli Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering and co-corresponding author of the study.
The researchers’ screen could be used wherever light and power sources are cumbersome or undesirable, including clothing, stickers, ID badges, barcodes and e-book readers. A single screen can reveal an image for everyone to see when placed near a standard magnet or a private encrypted image when placed over a complex array of magnets that acts like an encryption key.
