The first-ever I-Zone in 2012 was a great success, both in terms of attracting new technology and in drawing crowds of attendees at Display Week. The Innovation Zone at Display Week 2012 featured 23 exhibitors in a designated I-Zone space on the show floor. Each was chosen to participate on the basis of cutting-edge research and the ability to demonstrate a working prototype at the show. Members of the I-Zone committee chose the best prototype from the I-Zone, announcing the winner, Tactus Technology, on the show floor for its next-generation tactile touch-screen interface.

At Display Week 2013, under the sponsorship of E Ink, SID will once again provide this forum for live demonstrations of emerging information-display technologies and related areas. The I-Zone will take place May 21 and 22, the first 2 days of the exhibition. This special exhibit offers researchers space to demonstrate their prototypes or other hardware demo units for two days free of charge at Display Week and gives attendees a chance to view best-in-class emerging information-display technologies in a dedicated area on the show floor.

The I-Zone committee is now actively seeking participation by small companies, startups, universities, government labs, and independent research labs. Proposals to demonstrate new displays, input technologies, and innovations in related fields such as lighting and organic electronics are being solicited. Technologies should be in the pre-product stage, and demos that will be shown for the first time in a public forum at I-Zone are especially encouraged.

Submissions are due by Friday, March 15, 2013. Please address any questions regarding I-Zone 2013 to Prof. Jerzy Kanicki at kanicki@eeds.umich.edu.

For more information, including a list of the 2012 winners, visit http://www.sid.org/About/Awards/IZone.aspx •