Internet-linked, wall-mounted flat-panel displays (FPDs) may soon emerge as alternative bulletin boards at offices and community hot spots such as supermarkets.
Scientists at office equipment giant Fuji Xerox said recent advances in FPD, networking and wireless communications technologies in the region have boosted the commercial potential for the firm's concept 'plasma poster'.
Elizabeth Churchill, senior research scientist at Fuji Xerox Palo Alto Lab (FXPal) in Silicon Valley, said the plasma poster would function in the same way as white boards.
'The apparent differences are the plasma poster's connection to the Internet, as well as corporate intranet, and the touch-screen display, which eliminates the need for pins, writing instruments and erasers,' she said.
The software platform developed by FXPal for its plasma poster concept has been tested extensively since last year. It aims to support the information needs of mobile knowledge workers in large companies.
Ms Churchill said the use of FPDs as bulletin boards was economically feasible because of the wider availability of high-speed, broadband Internet connections in many offices worldwide, especially in Asia.