Yesterday, Sony unveiled their new 13.3 inch Digital Paper prototype which supports flexible displays and is quite possibly a peak into the future of the 21st century artist. While initially for books and print as of this writing you can write and draw on it.

From the Engadget site:

At 13.3 inches, the panel is larger than your typical e-reader’s, but it weighs just 60 grams. That light footprint comes courtesy of E Ink’s TFT tech, which allows for larger, more rugged devices without the extra weight. The Digital Paper’s form factor matches the size of a sheet of A4 paper, and the on-board digitizer lets users scrawl notes on the electromagnetic induction touchscreen.

Catch that? Scrawl notes! I’m sure right now it’s nothing more than black or white without pressure sensitivity but I’m wondering if they’ll change that. It seems to make sense.

So is this the “Cintiq Killer”? Perhaps, in the future,  it might be for a number of reasons… First off they will be significantly cheaper which studios and artists will drool over. Second, you’ll only need one connected to a sever via wifi to generate the same amount of work from a much smaller, lighter and possibly even portable piece of tech. Thirdly, while it is only a display showing one page, it’s logical to assume that they might one day add a hard drive and an operating system on it as well. Android? Windows Mobile? iOS? It seems the most likely would be Windows Mobile if only because they’re the ones who need to reinvent themselves. IF THAT happens, it’s likely to assume it could become mainstream.

Another interesting aspect of this is the possibility of doing the same thing to cloth. Imagine your art or portfolio on a slideshow as you walk the Comic Con? Quite a calling card wouldn’t you say? Add to that the fact that E-Ink has a ridiculously long battery life and it’s a pretty exciting possibility.

Now granted, all that said… E-Ink is strictly black and white so you wouldn’t be putting full color on it and all, at least not for now, but who knows what the future will hold since color E-Ink DOES already exist.

Is this the next wave of what a digital artist will draw on? Sound off!

Engadget