Magnetic Pixels Enable Screen to Store, Display Encrypted Images Without Electronics

A flexible screen partly inspired by squid can store and display encrypted images like a computer: using magnetic fields rather than electronics. The screen could be used wherever light and power sources are cumbersome or undesirable, e.g., clothing, stickers, ID badges, barcodes, and e-book readers. Watch this video to learn more.

“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.