Monday, January 10, 2022

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Breakthrough could help you 3D print OLED screens at home

Posted: 09 Jan 2022 02:09 PM PST

You might not have to send your devices in (or buy replacement parts) if the display breaks — you could just make new screens yourself. University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have developed what they say is the first fully 3D-printed flexible OLED display. In theory, you wouldn't have to depend on panels made at large, distant factories to build or repair your gadgets.

The new approach combines two methods of 3D printing to print the six layers needed for a functional display. The team used extrusion printing to make the electrodes, encapsulation, insulation and interconnects, while active layers were spray-painted at room temperature. Past attempts by various teams either had issues with light uniformity (consistency across the whole panel) or relied on techniques beyond 3D printing to put some components in place, such as spin-coating or thermal evaporation.

The prototype was just 1.5 inches wide and used just 64 pixels. Any practical uses would require much higher resolutions (a 1080p display requires over 2 million pixels), and the scientists also want to improve brightness. It might also take a while to adapt the technology for home use. The university used a custom 3D printer that costs as much as a Tesla Model S — it might take a while for the method to be viable on off-the-shelf printers, even including high-end models like FormLabs' $4,850 3B+.

The very nature of the technology makes those goals relatively achievable, though, and opens the door to numerous possibilities if and when home-printed OLED displays are practical. On top of do-it-yourself repairs, this could help you build homebrew gadgets with custom screens. While this effort doesn't quite represent the democratization of tech manufacturing (there are many more parts than displays, after all), it could reduce your dependence on companies' pre-assembled components.

Roblox halts service in China ahead of a major revamp

Posted: 09 Jan 2022 12:46 PM PST

Roblox may be enjoying success in many parts of the world, but it's currently in limbo in China. TechCrunch has learned Roblox temporarily shut down the Chinese version of its game platform, LuoBuLeSi, on December 8th for some "important transitory actions" needed to develop a future version. The company was shy on what those moves involved beyond the "data architecture," but a spokesperson said crafting the platform for China was an "iterative process."

The pause hasn't thrilled fans. Roblox only launched LuoBuLeSi five months before the shutdown, and many players felt the company only gave them very short notice. They also didn't buy an official claim they'd been playing a test version, noting they could still spend real money.

There's a chance China's strict digital rules may have played a role. The Chinese government requires licenses for games, and Roblox has more challenges than most developers. Its role as a creative platform could easily draw concern from Chinese censors worried about dissent, and the attempt to pitch LuoBuLeSi as a digital education system may have invited attention from officials cracking down on private education. China's data protection rules could also have contributed to the decision by dictating where and how Roblox stores users' information.

Whatever the reasons, the temporary halt underscores the difficulties foreign game developers have in China. They not only have to compete in one of the world's largest markets, but avoid clashes with a government that sometimes has a very different agenda.
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