Are Interactive Screens on Their Way to Packages?

Back in February, when packagePRINTING spoke with David Luttenberger, global packaging director for the Mintel Group, he told us that when it comes to the development of smart packaging, the key is for brands to find ways to accessibly provide consumers with relevant information.

News out of the University of Sheffield in England indicates that researchers there have made a potentially revolutionary breakthrough in packaging technology that fosters this type of consumer interaction. A release issued by the university states that Sheffield scientists and tech-focused company Novalia have collaborated to develop interactive touchscreens that can be placed on packaging.

While the release states that the technology could provide novelty attributes in items like greeting cards, its practical applications could be truly disruptive to the packaging industry.

From the University of Sheffield Release:

"More complex developments could include a countdown timer on the side of a packet to indicate when a timed product was ready - such as hair-dye, pregnancy tests or home-baking using a ‘traffic lights’ system."

In addition to creating more interactive packaging that benefits the consumer, David Lidzey, a professor in Sheffield’s Department of Physics and Astronomy explains in the release how this technology can also positively affect the brands that implement it.

“Labels on packaging could become much more innovative, and allow customers to interact with and explore new products,” he said. “The use of displays or light emitting panels on packaging will also allow companies to communicate brand awareness in a more sophisticated manner.”

In an email to packagePRINTING, Chris Jones of Novalia explains that at this point, one of the biggest obstacles for printers and converters in implementing this technology stems from both the unit cost and cost of integration. However, he says that throughout the industry, packaging professionals do tend to continually explore new technologies.

"The packaging industry has a constant interest in innovation for authentication, for increased interactivity and product differentiation from competitors." Jones writes. "As a consequence, there are certain market areas within the packaging industry that can sustain increased unit costs. The printing of the conductive tracks is already possible using existing print processes. In order to roll out these technologies, further work on volume manufacturing of low-cost, fully flexible organic displays and addressing the challenges of low cost integration would enable packaging printers to offer this functionality to their customers."

The researchers published a paper on their work in the IEEE Journal of Display Technology, which explains how through a process of printing electronic tracks onto a paper substrate, inexpensive electronics and a polymer LED display can be implemented into the packaging through the use of a conductive adhesive.

To increase consumer interactivity even further, the Sheffield team and Novalia also developed a touch-pad keyboard on the paper that responds to a consumer’s touch and triggers the LEDs, the release says. Check out this video from the university.

Following the team’s success with implementing the technology onto paper, the release states the team now plans to expand into plastic surfaces.

The team’s next steps are to create fully flexible organic displays on a plastic substrate that then fix onto the electronic tracks. The LED devices need to be low-cost and flexible enough to be used on all packaging.

Though it may seem like this technology is from a distant future, Lidzey explains in an email that with further research and collaborative efforts, packaging may become much more interactive before we know it.

"Time-scales are critically dependent on investment in R&D, with companies and universities coming together to solve basic problems, develop manufacture processes and critically establish a supply chain," he writes. "If this were done, then this type of technology could be ready in five years or so."