E Ink snowboard with giant nose display surfaces at SID 2011

The E Ink display is a very cool bit of tech. The displays are easy to read in direct sunlight and they need little power to operate. Over the years since the E Ink screen debut, they have found their way into all sorts of devices from eReaders to watches with lots of stuff in between. At SID 2011, a new use for an E Ink screen surfaced and it is a first. The large screen you see there is on the nose of a snowboard. I hope it's rugged.

I would totally crash that snowboard into a tree, a pole, or another skier and break it in short order. It seems odd at first glance to have an E Ink screen on a snowboard, but the more I think about it, it would actually be cool. The screen could be used to show any warnings or updates on the conditions at the mountain. Perhaps it could be linked to a smartphone and allow texts to show up on the E Ink for the rider to read without messing with their smartphone while wearing gloves.

The snowboard display has a compass, clock, weather indicator, and a signal strength indicator. That last bit seems to indicate connectivity with a smartphone or other communications device. As cool as the snowboard is, that isn't all the stuff on display at SID 2011 packing in an E Ink display. There was also a really cool E Ink music holder being shown off and a thermostat with an E ink screen.

[via Engadget]