How many documents do you print for short term usage? You need the meeting agenda, that web page, maybe driving direction. You use it once or twice and it goes into the recycle bin or worse the garbage can. Xerox has been analyzing how people use paper and the company knows that 2 out of every 5 pages printed are only for temporary use. It’s found a solution.

Xerox has invented paper that erases itself after about 24 hours. The process can be sped up if needed by applying heat to the paper. The technology works by coating paper with a special chemical mixture that reacts to beams of light from specially designed printers. The light beam causes the chemical mixture to react and turn a blue-purple color. However the blue-purple state is unstable and the chemical reverts back to its clear state after about 16 to 24 hours.

The invention comes to you from PARC, Xerox’s wholly owned research facility. You may be familiar with PARC as it is where the mouse and the GUI came from. Without these advances there would be no Windows Vista or OS X.

One of the possible applications is in secure communications. Its fairly obvious that paper that erases itself a certain period of time would be very useful for something that is time sensitive but might pose a security risk if released. Many financial institutions have had problems with sensitive material being thrown in the dumpster versus shredded. Self-erasing paper would solve that problem.

The paper can be re-used several times. PARC manager Eric Shrader said he personally used some pieces 50 to 100 times. The product is still probably several years away from commercial release. Engineers are still working on a way to rapidly clear the page without heat. The paper will cost more than normal paper and customers will need a special printer. Xerox is also working on a way to write on the paper with a regular pen, perhaps with a pen that has a light beam built in.

One foreseeable problem with the product could be accidentally printing long term material on the paper. Imagine going to a conference with printed hand outs only to find that they are all blank! How about printing a map with those critical directions only to find that you’ve exceeded the time limit or left it in the sun and now you’re lost! Obviously great care will be necessary to make the best use of this invention.