A twist on wearable technology

Computer and smartphone screens don't bend.

They've always been made of rigid materials — until now. Skokie, Ill.-based company Polyera Corp. says it has made a technological breakthrough, developing the world's first flexible digital display device.

The thin strip can wrap around your wrist like a bracelet or a watch, with text and images displayed everywhere on its bendable surface.

The company plans to begin selling the Wove Band to consumers next year. It's the culmination of 10 years of research and development by Polyera, which CEO Phil Inagaki founded in 2005. “We will be the only company that's achieved this, even though it's been talked about for years,” says Inagaki, a Princeton University grad with a degree in physics.

Polyera is taking submissions from developers and artists who'd like to get free early prototypes of the Wove Band in December. That will give them the chance to develop “compositions,” which is what Polyera is calling apps for the Wove.

The device uses Polyera's proprietary “digital fabric” technology. As Inagaki explains, most electronics components are built with silicon, which is brittle. Instead of using silicon, Polyera has created new polymers that make it possible to put electronics inside a flexible strip. The Wove Band also uses E Ink, the display system used on the Kindle. “That allows the display to work with very low power,” Inagaki says.

Inagaki, who grew up in Montreal, says he decided to start his company near Chicago to take advantage of the area's science and engineering schools. Polyera, which he says has received $35 million in equity financing from investors, now has additional offices in San Francisco, Mountain View, Calif., and Tapei, Taiwan, with about 100 employees in all. “Chicago is the heart of all the core R&D,” Inagaki says.

When the Wove Band comes out next year, Inagaki says, “it will be cheaper than the cheapest Apple Watch” — which is about $350. Polyera is open to working in partnership with other companies, Inagaki says, adding that the Wove Band is only the first of many potential uses for Polyera's flexible electronics. “It's really infinite, and we're just getting started,” he says.