Kate Stone, founder of the Cambridge-based company, said Novalia had been approached by magazine publishers from the UK and the US.
She said: “It’s been surprising how many people from the magazine industry have contacted us, which is really cool. It means that the experiences we create must have resonated.”
Stone was one of the speakers at last week’s Packaging Innovations, held at Kensington Olympia in west London on 16 and 17 September, where she spoke about Novalia’s work and demonstrated applications.
These included its ‘notebook’, a printed paper midi keyboard that can connect to music software on a smartphone via Bluetooth, and a DJ mixing desk printed on album covers for artist DJ QBert, which again works through a smartphone link-up.
She told PrintWeek: “Everyone does have a definite favourite thing. Everyone seems to see a different aspect. So much print advertising has been lost to digital, that’s why there’s an interest. What if you could add digital to a magazine?”
Novalia's technology works by printing capacitive inks onto paper in a design which allows electrons to move around. This is added to a simple circuit board. Either the system produces sound which creates a one-way communication or it connects to a mobile phone app through Bluetooth technology.
“The first type of technology talks to you. Some people have been interested in that. For this to work it’s not cheap so it needs to be supported by a brand. There needs to be some advertising brand experience that connects to you, not just through an image, with an extra sense.
“Imagine a magazine that now connects to your phone and beyond. We did a project a few years ago seeing what would happen if a newspaper connected to the internet. We put a Facebook ‘Like’ button on a newspaper page - people loved it.”
Stone, who was unable to reveal which publishers had approached Novalia due to requests for confidentiality, said one link up between Novalia technology and magazines could be to print something, which is so useful people “keep it on their desk or their fridge”. “That potentially has a much greater value,” Stone said.
The doctor of physics and micro-electronics has spent the summer at music festivals, where she has been involved in creating 'playable gardens' involving installations of paper flowers and patterned mats that produce sound and can be played in the same way as the notebook keyboard. Novalia has also worked with beer brand Beck’s on printed bottles and a playable poster which appeared as part of New Zealand Music Month.
