ITP student Caroline Brown along with Kate Hartman demonstrate how easy it is to embed simple circuits into paper pulp.

The project was completed for 4-in-4 where participants were required to create a new project every day for four days.

The process for making the paper circuit prototype seems fairly straight forward. They began by blending recycled shredded paper and water. Then two pieces of conductive thread and a handful of LEDs were pressed between two screens and left to dry.

The dried paper with the embedded LED circuit turned out quite nicely.

BTW, here is a great tutorial on how to make your own recycled paper.

Why is this important?
It is interesting to see the relatively new experiments with paper and electronics. From Leah Buechley's Paper Computing to XSLabs Pulp-based computing, paper is quickly becoming the new frontier for investigations in craft and technology

As I watch the experiments unfold, I can imagine a world of possibilities for integrating simple electronics into children's story books.