What’s the most powerful sentence in the English language? “Press ctrl-p to print.” Xerox (NYSE: XRX) has announced its development of special silver inks which have a melting point below that of plastic. Crafted into different versions which can act as conductors, semiconductors, or dielectrics, this silver ink could allow users to print integrated circuits onto plastic, fabric, or film. Thin and flexible, this technology may be the key to paper-thin solar cells, adaptable sensors, and many other sought after devices. Is Xerox poised to revolutionize the use of integrated circuits, or will this new ink be like so many other printable circuit systems of the past: amazing but never quite reaching market?

If we could have printable circuits, what would that mean for the average consumer? Imagine buying a roll of fabric that was also a solar cell surface. Spread like a tarp it could provide portable energy almost anywhere in the world. Painted on a surface it could help power cars or buildings. Thin flexible circuits on plastic could become fantastic electronic readers, endless books available in an object that looks like a sheet of paper. Patients could have sensors embedded in the bandages in which they are wrapped. RFIDs could be built into any sheet of film. Every surface or piece of clothing could be alive with computing power. As hyperbolic as it sounds, printable circuitry allows for almost any such idea you want to dream up to at least be possible.

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