Alt.CES: Cereal boxes with wirelessly-powered glowing ink

Chris Walker, of Secret Labs/Netduino fame, was kind enough to agree to do some snooping around at CES for MAKE, too. Here’s more info on the printed-circuit ink product boxes on display at the show. — Gareth

As Damien Stolarz previously reported, Fulton Innovation demonstrated cereal boxes with wirelessly-powered glowing ink.

These boxes were printed with special metallic ink at a cost of pennies per box. But it wasn’t just the flashing lights that were printed with metallic ink: entire circuits printed on the inside surface controlled the animation and turned these everyday boxes into intelligent electronics. The cereal boxes even communicated with a nearby computer which queried its expiration date.

These circuits can be printed using standard printing processes (including silkscreen and printing presses) and the work that WMU CAPE is doing will hopefully enable home inkjet- or laser-printed options. The possibilities for maker-printed wireless circuits are really fascinating.

More info: WMU CAPE

More:

• Alt.CES: Chris Walker at the show
• Alt.CES: A maker’s peek at North Hall and the International Pavilion
• Alt.CES: A maker’s peek at South Hall