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First-Ever E Ink Road Signs Used in Sydney, Australia

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Visionet E Ink Street Signs

Visionect’s E Ink street signs take e-reader technology and makes reading street signs easier
Photo: Visionet via YouTube

E Ink is no longer going to be something you only see on your e-readers. Sydney, Australia, is taking this innovative technology, which is a form of electronic paper, out of the library and onto the streets. Throughout the city, the Australian Road and Maritime Services have deployed E Ink signage on their city streets.

Unlike current street signs, the signs utilizing E Ink offer the government an interesting perk. Each sign is connected to government servers through a 3G network, allowing them to be updated over-the-air at any time. Just like your E Ink e-readers, these signs are lit at night to improve visibility, making them easy to read. While they do have a power supply, these innovative signs can actually run mostly on solar power, making them eco-friendly—and tax-payer friendly.

This new technology is sure to change the way Sydney uses signage. Rather than having to employ temporary signs or change old signs for new whenever rules change, the city can merely click a few buttons on their computer and voila!—the sign has changed.

Visionect, the company that produced the signs, is hoping to continue improving the signs in the future. With this type of technology becoming prevalent, we might be closer to the Jetsons than ever before!