If, like me, you use a wireless mouse when working on a laptop, your trackpad probably doesn't see much action. Asus suggested double duty as a second screen back in 2018, and now E Ink is doing the same with some help from Intel.
Like the Asus solution, the color ePaper touch panel can serve as a trackpad for moving a cursor around the main display but can also serve up AI-powered applications. And since it only draws power when the display is refreshed, it should be pretty energy efficient when it performs second-screen duties.
"With the development tools and reference architecture provided by the Intel® Smart Base ecosystem, we've created ultra-slim, energy-efficient modules optimized for AI PC designs," said E Ink's JM Hung. "These modules enable seamless integration of ePaper displays into laptop touchpad areas – delivering crisp visuals, low power consumption, and a novel interactive experience."
It's unclear when (or even if) such modules will be rolled out to laptops in the wild, or any additional costs that might tag onto the ticket price, but E Ink sees it being useful for accessing shortcuts or displaying system notifications, providing AI-generated summaries of text or imagery shown on the main screen, punching up gaming tactics, or just displaying social feeds, weather updates and so on.
It could perhaps field chatbot queries and replies, and it might be home to meeting transcripts, as well as a space for note taking or displaying custom artwork – which could remain in view even when the laptop is powered off.
The ePaper should also be kinder to the eyes than emissive display technology. And though some E Ink readers and ePaper tablets do have front lighting for continued use after hours, there's no suggestion of such things here so, at the moment at least, users will need decent ambient lighting to clearly see what's being displayed.
E Ink hasn't shared exactly what flavor of color ePaper is being used in this productivity solution for laptops, but its most recent display products have been based around Spectra 6 or Kaleido 3. We'll have to wait and see which makes it through to the first laptops.
Source: E Ink
