Fully Flexible Information Technology Assistant

To address the Army need for fully flexible display electronics, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Fully Flexible Information Technology Assistant (FLEXITA). This proposed flexible display system is based on chip-on-flex (COF) and embedded passives fabrication techniques, efficient power management that leverages bi-stable displays, synchronous/asynchronous display driving for video or random updates, and power-saving wireless protocols. The innovation in FLEXITA will enable the system to conform to the bending radii of fully flexible displays while maintaining low-power consumption, both wired and wireless communication, and color video capability. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of FLEXITA by designing, fabricating, and testing a flexible processing circuit using COF technology. FLEXITA meets the needs of the Army by offering low power (<10 mW in standby mode and <250 microwatts in sleep mode), lightweight (~40 g with PCB and batteries), 12-24-bit color, and up to 2048x2048 RGBW color images. In Phase II, POC plans to develop a mature prototype that will both drive and conform to a fully flexible display. This technology has a large military market and a potentially large commercial market for handheld PDAs, GPSs, and other smart electronics devices.