While the increased activity in the e-reader arena has captured recent headlines, that may soon change. Art Technology has just introduced a line of Phosphor watches featuring an electronic paper display face. Founded by Donald Brewer (previously VP of Technology at Fossil) and Danny So (founder/managing director of Fair Legend Electronics, a Hong Kong-based watch manufacturer), Art Technology is a watch manufacturer based in Hong Kong. A scant year-and-a-half old, Art Technology’s initial focus is solely on E Ink display watches. We spoke to Brewer to gain his insight into the advantages of e-paper displays for watches and the potential market for the product.
E Ink Technology
The bold curved watches use electrophoretic technology developed by E Ink Corporation, a leading provider of electrophoretic display technologies (EPD) for various applications and the major e-paper provider for the majority of e-readers currently on the market. Brewer told us that has worked for some time with E Ink while at Fossil and later as a direct consultant. He was impressed enough with the technology and the current lack of high-fashion digital watches that it prompted him to start-up Art Technology to market watches using the technology. “I believe there is an upscale market and interest in a more fashionable digital watch,” said Brewer, “but that requires a display technology like E Ink that has several unique features/capabilities to differentiate it from LCD typically used.”
E Ink features numerous advantages over conventional LCDs, all of which have been integrated into the watches to make them quite distinctive as well as fashionable. According to Brewer, an e-paper display for a watch face is much brighter and has a higher contrast than LCD faces. Moreover, e-paper is manufactured on a plastic substrate which enables a curved design.
High Tech and Fashionable
Two different Phosphor watch models are available: a digital hour clock watch and a digital calendar watch, each with a black leather, stainless steel or black polyurethane band. The digital hour watch can be toggled between a large digit and a graphic view of the time. The calendar watch offers a continuous display of a monthly calendar with a smaller time display at the top. The smaller 12-hour display alternates between white-on-black to black-on-white time displays. Both watches have a 12-hour display and allow five different modes-digital time, analog time, date, alarm and calendar. The thin display is also water resistant. Prices range from $ 175 to $195 for the hour clock for polyurethane, leather and stainless steel bands, respectively. In like fashion, the calendar watches range from $195-$225.
The watches all use E Ink’s segmented electrophoretic display (EPD) cells in a thin (less than 400-microns thick), rugged design that offers exceptional contrast that is readable in sunlight with an unlimited viewing angle. In addition, because no power is required to view an image the battery life is significantly extended. The discrete segments of the segmented displays convey numbers with a bright bold look.
The bold stylish look of the watches has brought a little known application of e-paper displays to the forefront of the news. “I think with successful product such as Amazon Kindle and now our new Phosphor watch line end users are starting to become aware of many new products that are revolutionized with the integration of the E Ink display technology,” noted Brewer.
By Linda M. Casatelli
art tech, e-ink, phospher, watch