Interactive Newsprint joined the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) network in Lisbon where the focus of activities was firmly on exploring new ways of combining print and digital.

The Media Innovation Studio’s Paul Egglestone was invited to present one of two keynote speeches to a multidisciplinary group of over 40 academics from across Europe. The talk on the possibilities for Interactive Newsprint offered practical examples of the potential and pitfalls of working with this new technology and featured a short demonstration of how data from interactions with print can be collected and shared.

The group went on to review several examples where successful combinations of print and digital have been accomplished already through the use of image recognition, augmented reality or printed electronics to bring interactivity into fiber based products.

As the network develops further, new models of ongoing change in social interaction and in the cultural products of paper and electronic media will be elaborated and proposed. The results will promote critical and theoretical discussion on the changing meanings of contemporary media culture.

The Action will explore new business opportunities for the fiber based products and the value chains of print media and packaging through novel, innovative uses. It will also serve as a channel for communication between industry and academia, contributing to the development of new commercial applications.

In Lisbon, the network participants joined in a simple board game designed to inspire creativity as they began to think about what new products and services could be developed through the combination of print and digital.