The multi-part displays, measuring at 1m x 3.2m and supporting a 240×768 resolution have been placed alongside a few main thoroughfares in the city, and are intended to give pedestrians disaster response instructions. E-paper is perfect for application like this, for a few reasons. A dynamic display is incredibly valuable in a disaster, as it can change its contents to suit the details of a specific situation. A traditional LCD panel would be the most obvious choice for such a thing, but it suffers from excessive power requirements and a lack a durability, which are crucial limitation for the earthquake-prone region.

Power consumption for the whole unit, which can pull data from servers via Wi-Fi, is a mere 24W, and E-paper can keep displaying data after power has been cut, though it can’t change it. A smaller unit, installed at bus stops, consumes just 9W. This test is just to explore the possibilities of low-power digital signage, but the advantages seem obvious—deployments like this are being held up by price more than anything else. [Tech-on]

The 14.1, 6.1, 2.4 and 1.7-inch displays are believe to use a cholesteric LCD material to freeze the images. Power specifications were not provided, but freezing data into the display apparently takes a “relatively large” amount of energy.

And while Sharp hasn’t pitched the tech for displaying the newspaper, they do see a lot of potential in the commercial market. One Osaka grocery is already testing several smaller displays that are hooked up to Wi-Fi and can change prices easily. The same principle would work well for nightly restaurant specials and the ever-fluctuating pricepoints at children’s lemonade stands everywhere. [Tech-On via Slashgear]

Kitson expounded upon the Laser projector, saying that it could be used for collaborative teleconferencing, and “social TV,” where someone can insert themselves in a friend’s video feed. Other prototypes include foldable, multi-part displays, as well as lego-style modular displays that are scalable in size and shape. E-paper was another technology Kitson admitted to working with, which seems odd for a mobile phone in my opinion. Asked about when we might see some of this technology, all Kitson would say is that it’s working in the lab now, and some of these will hopefully surface in the future. But hey, I’m just glad the StarTac 2 isn’t their “next big thing” in the lab.

According to the company, the reader is tough enough to resist getting hit with a shoe, which is exactly what I wanted to hear because that’s how I test the toughness of my devices. Hitting them with shoes and/or toasted baguettes with butter and apricot jam.

While the device seems solid and ready for manufacturing, the only question here is when is this actually coming out, the price, and what kind of content support it will have from publishers. Which is why, for now, it just looks like a Kindle killer, rather than being the Kindle killer. Alternatively, Jeff Bezos should buy these guys and smash his frankenbookreader.

TG Daily is covering Demo Fall 2008, so they have more pictures of the device and promise a video soon. [TGDaily]

Imagine a future filled with people getting paid to wear annoying ads everywhere you went, or attention seekers getting in your face with a shirt filled with their stupid propaganda. It’s a good thing we will all be long dead before this sort of technology becomes widely available. [Lunar Design via Gizmowatch via DVICE]