Term of the Moment
archive program
Definition: OROM
(Optical ROM) An optical storage technology from Ioptics, Inc., Bellevue, WA, that never came to fruition. Designed for portable devices, it was expected to provide 10 ms access to 128MB in a thin, plastic 2.25x1.75" data card that connects via PC Card or USB. Using stationary organic LEDs (OLEDs) that shine through 5000 "data patches" on the card, which are 2D images that each hold 32KB of data, OROM cards were to be pressed in a manner similar to CDs.
Reading a Patch
OROM used no moving parts. The bottom picture shows the light from one organic LED shining up through one 32-KB data patch to the diffractive lens, which focused the modulated light toward the reading mechanism. (Images courtesy of Ioptics, Inc.)