Rainbow Technology

Rainbow technology,a breakthrough in digital data storage enables us to store up to a massive 450GB on just a piece of paper. Rainbow Storage is a group of techniques to store digital data in some colors, color denser way much higher capacities can be achieved. Paper is, of course, bio-degradable, unlike CDs or DVDs. And sheets of paper also cost a fraction of the cost of a CD or DVD. combinations and some symbols This boon to digital data storage is known and developed by Sainul Abideen, therefore a rainbow picture will be university technology student at generated. The technique is used to the Muslim educational society achieve high-density storage. With Engineering College in Kerala. as rainbow format, the help of Rainbow system we would be watching full-length highdefinition videos from a piece of paper! The main attraction is the cheap paper. The Rainbow technology is feasible because printed text, readable by the human eye is a very wasteful use of the potential capacity of paper to store data.

By HOW IS IT POSSIBLE? therefore looks like a print-out of the modern art. The paper can then be read through a specially developed scanner and the contents decoded into their Data stored in rainbow format on an ordinary paper. It uses geometric shapes such as original digital format and viewed or Rainbow played. The technology squares and hexagons to represent feasible data patterns, instead of the usual text, binary method that uses ones and human zeros to represent data. Besides, wasteful color is also used in the Rainbow potential capacity of paper system, to represent other data to store data. By printing elements. Files such as text, the images, sounds and video clips are denser way much higher encoded in “rainbow format” as capacities can be achieved. colored circles, triangles, squares The retrieval of data is done and so on, and printed as dense by scanning the paper or graphics on paper at a density of the plastic sheet containing 2.7GB per square inch.

An RVD the data into a scanner and later because is readable eye data use is printed by the a very of the encoded reading it in a over monitor. Instead of using 0s and 1s, we use color dots where each color dot can represent minimum 8 bits (1 byte). picture The will compressed rainbow be and highly can be IMPLEMENTATION REQUIREMENTS: REQUIREMENTS: represented in any color medium. For retrieving the contents from the medium, picture can be captured and data can be generated from the color combinations. “Although environmental light differences and color shading is a problem, it can overcome up to a certain limit by using efficient mapping functions”. Discs can now be developed from plastic paper too which will be able to hold 450 GB of data. In order to read the Rainbow prints, all that is required is a scanner and specialized software. will replace CD drives of mobile Smaller scanners could fit inside phone and computer notebooks laptop and will enable more data in computers or mobile phones, and read SIM card-sized portable forms for mini digital RVD’s containing 5GB of data. readers. Large scale manufacture The recording media could be either of the Rainbow card will bring paper or plastic sheets.

The piece of down its cost to just 50 paise paper or even plastic sheet storing the DEMONSTRATION: data has just to be scanned in the scanner and read over the monitor. A scanning drive based on the Rainbow software has simultaneously been developed which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies. The developer is simultaneously moulding the technology into ‘Rainbow Cards’ which will be of Sainul Abideen, the developer, explaining feature of his brainchild -Rainbow Technology SIM card size and store 5 GB of The reporter of Arab News claims data equivalent to three films of to have seen 450 pages of fully DVD quality. printed foolscap being stored on a As ‘Rainbow Cards’ will become 4-square inch piece of Rainbow Popular, Rainbow Card Readers paper. The reporter also claimed that he was shown a 45-second video clip that was stored using the Rainbow system on a plain piece of paper. Abideen has demonstrated a 45-second video clip being encoded on paper, termed by him, a rainbow video disk – RVD – and then played back through a computer with an RVD scanner attached.

In another CD, DVD’s a thing of past. Currently, of the several options available for data storage, DVDs are the best mode, but are yet expensive. Sianul has said that a CD or DVD consumes 16gms of polycarbonate, which is a petroleum by-product. demonstration he has shown 432 While a CD costs Rs. 15, his paper A4 pages of paper rainbow format- or plastic-made RVD will cost just encoded and stored on a two-inch about Rs. 1.50 and will even have by two-inch square of paper. 131 times more storage capacity. Using this technology an A4 sheet COMPARISON WITH OTHER STORAGE DEVICES: of paper could store 256GB of data. In comparison, a DVD can store 4.7GB of data. Paper is, of course, bio-degradable, unlike CDs or DVDs. And sheets of paper also cost a fraction of the cost of a CD or DVD. • He biodegradable nature of the storage devices would do away with the e-waste ADVANTAGES: pollution. • The four main storage • Data can be stored on an ordinary paper.

• Abideen claims that huge devices made using this technology are RVD, Disposable storage, Data data banks can be Banks, Rainbow cards, and constructed out of Rainbow- answer to the storage based storage medium. problems faced by the • Larger amount of data can be had on lesser space. • The extremely low-cost computer world. • With the help of disposable storage,a high density data technology will drastically storage is made possible even reduce the cost of storage on paper or plastic sheets,any and provide for high speed type of computer files can be storage too. stored and distributed this • Files in any format like way,so instead of giving cd’s movie files, songs, images, with the computer text can be stored using this magazines,its content can be technology. printed in a page,video albums, software etc.Can be distributed at avery low cost Banks;it is huge server with a with the help disposable high storage capacity.As per a storage research project done in US in • Rainbow cards can be used 2003 to store the avaible static in mobile devices in place of data(films,songs,tutorials DVDs &VCDs.

In a square presentations etc)the server inch sized rainbow cards, required will cost $500 (equivalent to the size of sim crores(23000 crores).But by card)more than 5GB data can using data banks ,a similar be stored.A major crisis server can be made with Rs.35 faced in the design of the lacks.All;the available films and small digital devices is the other static data can be used by huge size of the CD/DVD paying cash with the drives.The rainbow cards can internet.Almost 125.603 PB solve this problem.Un- data storage is possible in a authorized copies of the Data Bank. films can be controlled to a • Sainul is busy with project certain limits using these Xpre3ssa now.It’s a software cards.A UK-based company package for regional has already evinced interest languages.By using this, News in making rainbow cards papers, stories, novels etc can • Another theme put forward by rainbow technology is the Data be made audible in it’s own style.so online news papers and novels can be enjoyed through popularity of the Rainbow mobile phone with a GPRS Technology, computer or fashion connection.

Sainul Abideen, a magazines in future need not carry native of Karingappara , is a CDs in a pack. freelence software developer. One of the major advantages of Un-authorized copies of the the Rainbow system is the fact that films can be controlled to a it should cost a lot less to produce certain limit using these cards. • than the typical polycarbonate DVDs, CDs and now Blu- rays. Huge data banks can be DISADVANTAGES: constructed out of Rainbow-based The paper has the tendency to fade storage medium. away hence the data loss may occur. REFERENCES: With the extremely low cost of using this technology we can always afford 1. “Data Can Now Be Stored on to have multiple copies. Paper” by M. A. Siraj, Arab News (published November 18, 2006; CONCLUSION: accessed November 29, 2006) Once the Rainbow technology is 2. Paper storage man in, soon we would be watching misunderstood — The Inquirer full-length high-definition videos article, 12 December 2006 from a piece of paper! With the (retrieved 15 December 2006. 3. “Store 256GB on an A4 sheet” by Chris Mellor, Techworld (published November 24, 2006; accessed November 29, 2006)