Now, flexible 'paper tablet' that can be twisted and dropped

The screen will be launched later this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Researchers have developed a revolutionary tablet screen as thin as a sheet of paper that can be twisted and dropped without damage - and it could replace your laptop within five years.

Developed by Queen's University in Canada in collaboration with Plastic Logic and Intel Labs, it could lead to revolutionary new gadgets that are virtually unbreakable - and as thin as a piece of paper.

The PaperTab is fully interactive with a flexible, high-resolution 10.7-inch plastic display developed by Plastic Logic, a flexible touchscreen, and powered by the second generation Intel CoreTM i5 Processor, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

"Plastic Logic's flexible plastic displays allow a natural human interaction with electronic paper, being lighter, thinner and more robust compared with today's standard glass-based displays," said Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Plastic Logic.

Researchers plan to launch the screen later this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

They have shown off the concept for a new desktop - using sheets of paper for each app rather than a traditional screen with windows.

Instead of using several apps or windows on a single display, users have ten or more interactive displays or 'PaperTabs', with each being a different app.

They can also be used as e-books, with users simply bending the screen to turn pages.

"Using several PaperTabs makes it much easier to work with multiple documents," said Roel Vertegaal, Director of Queen's University's Human Media Lab.

For example, PaperTab allows a user to send a photo simply by tapping one PaperTab showing a draft email with another PaperTab showing the photo.

The photo is then automatically attached to the draft email.

The email is sent either by placing the PaperTab in an out tray, or by bending the top corner of the display.

Similarly, a larger drawing or display surface is created simply by placing two or more PaperTabs side by side.

Intel claims the technology could eventually replace traditional screen altogether.

"Within five to ten years, most computers, from ultra-notebooks to tablets, will look and feel just like these sheets of printed colour paper," said Ryan Brotman, Research Scientist at Intel.

The developers claim it could even replace paper altogether.

"PaperTab can file and display thousands of paper documents, replacing the need for a computer monitor and stacks of papers or printouts," it said.