Bridgestone, Newspaper Firm Start Testing E-paper Signage

Aug 20, 2008 19:52 Masao Oonishi, Nikkei Microdevices

Bridgestone Corp and The Mainichi Newspapers Co Ltd began a verification test of a digital signage device using e-paper in cooperation with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Bureau of Transportation.

The companies will set up the signage devices in the concourses and passageways of the Toei subway line stations in Tokyo. They plan to conduct the test until the end of March 2009.

The signage devices are installed (1) in the concourse at the Shinbashi subway station on the Toei Asakusa Line and (2) in the accessway to the Tokyo Marunouchi Line at the Shinjuku-sanchome subway station on the Toei Shinjuku Line.

The devices are hung on the wall inside the entrance gate in the Shinbashi subway station and on the wall diagonally opposite the C2 Exit in the Shinjuku-sanchome subway station. An A3-size color e-paper device and a monochrome device have been installed at both locations.

The devices display breaking news reports with photos, part of the front page of the Mainichi Newspaper morning and evening editions, advertisements for Mainichi Newspaper periodic publications and notices of events that Mainichi is hosting, for example.

The companies are planning to distribute special breaking news reports on sporting events during the Beijing Olympic Games, they said. Information is updated over a high-speed mobile network, with a compact PC and a mobile phone connected to the back of the panel.

Bridgestone announced the A3-size full-color electronic paper device in October 2007. The system being verified uses e-paper with the same specifications, the companies said.

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