Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
A Google engineer has developed a solar-powered data display for Google calendar information to use as signage in Google’s offices outside of their conference rooms (to display meeting schedules). It uses an ultra lower-power Cholesteric LCD display which can operate on energy generated from indoor light. Aaron Spangler, the engineer, claims on the video that Google uses six reams of paper, in 2200 conference rooms, every single day. So, given that, and the people-power required to change and update the signs, this is a significant time and money saver. Besides the Cholesteric display, the unit uses a PIC-based MCU and a Xbee wireless module.
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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
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