It Had To Happen: The Disposable Computer

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March 04, 2004 (8:40 AM EST)

A disposable paperboard computer has been developed and is already in use in Sweden. Developed by Cypak AB, the paperboard computer can collect, process, and exchange several pages of encrypted data, the company says.

"Initially, it will be used in industrial-specific applications as an enhanced and secure RFID device," said Cypak marketing director Strina Ehrensvard in an email. "Today, in pharmaceutical and courier packaging as a data-collection device; tomorrow maybe for interactive books, lotteries, passports, and voting cards."

With just 32 Kbytes of memory, the paperboard computer's functionality is somewhat limited at present, but the firm believes its future will be broad. Cypak has entered into an agreement in the U.S. with MeadWestvaco Healthcare Packaging, which has marketing rights to the product and technology in the Americas.

Ehrensvard said the device is currently in use in a trial sponsored by a Swedish university involving compliance monitoring of pharmaceutical packaging. The trial tracks when a medicine tablet has been taken out of a package; it is then placed on a Cypak scanner connected to a PC on which the information can be viewed and stored. Ehrensvard said the paperboard computer is being considered in another healthcare application, as well: doctors would use it to help authenticate the administration of pharmaceuticals.

The Cypak product utilizes RFID technology that is based on printable sensors and electronic modules. The components are integrated on a variety of products, ranging from packaging and plastic cards to adhesives. In healthcare applications, Cypak says the paperboard computer time-stamps medicine dosages, which can be integrated with a patient's electronic diary. It can deliver sound reminders, too.

Cypak has also developed a companion device--a smart card with an integrated numerical keypad. The firm expects this to be used initially in applications demanding high security. By entering a unique PIN on a card, a user can connect to the Internet and exchange data. Cypak says the card's encryption can't be copied or broken, enabling it to deliver "military-class security."

"The paperboard computer concept and the PIN-on-Card are the same core technology--components integrated in different products," Ehrensvard said. "They exchange information to a PC with the same reader."

Cypak offers the components on an OEM basis for about $1 each. The firm added that OEM components for its readers are available for approximately the same price in large volumes.

The firm has developed a tamper-proof package technology with the Swedish Postal Service. Called SecurePak, the packaging technology stores sender and receiver relevant data and alerts receivers of any possible package tampering before the package is opened.

Cypak will demo the products at the CeBIT 2004 exposition, in Hannover, Germany, later this month.