Electrostatic Noticeboard: No Pushpins Required

The idea behind Jonathan Jordan‘s Stix Electrostatic Noticeboard is a straightforward one: The pushpins, staples, and what have you that we associate with bulletin boards are annoying and wasteful, so why not cut out the middleman and have papers stick directly to the board’s surface itself, in such a way that they hold for a long time but can be easily taken down?

The board uses electrostatic attraction to achieve this goal, similar to when you rub a balloon against your hair and stick it to your arm. (You know you have done this at one point.) Jordan’s James Dyson Award project details for the board (it was a finalist in that contest) don’t list the material it’s made of; we like DVICE’s guess that it’s “something that easily becomes negative in charge, like polypropylene or vinyl.”

One potential drawback we can foresee: Static electricity can easily damage electronics — yes, even static from your body, if your electric potential greatly differs from the parts you’re working with — so if you yourself pick up a static charge from rubbing up against the board, ground yourself first before hitting up your PC. Although that’s generally a good idea anyway.

(via OhGizmo!)