Scroll

The scroll is an object that appears to function as a collapsible futuristic hologram tablet. It is able to gauge a user's Aura and depict it as a life bar, along with those of the user's teammates, as well as stream video from cameras.

Appearances


A scroll was first seen in the "Yellow" Trailer, when Yang Xiao Long used a smartphone sized scroll to show Junior Xiong a picture of an unknown girl.

A scroll was next seen in Episode 1, held by Glynda Goodwitch as she lectured Ruby Rose on how reckless she was. When Ozpin entered the room, Glynda used her scroll to display a recorded video of Ruby's fight with Roman's henchmen.

Later, Glynda was seen holding one in the episodes The First Step and The Emerald Forest, Pt.2. In the latter episode, she was seen using it to view videos of various students in the forest, and Ozpin was seen using a scroll to watch a live video of Ruby and Weiss.

At the end of The Badge and The Burden, Pt.2, when Weiss finds Ruby asleep, a scroll is visible on Ruby's bed.

The name of this device was finally given in the episode Jaunedice, shortly before Jaune is seen in possession of a small scroll displaying his and his teammates' Aura as health meters.

In Episode 13, Forever Fall, Jaune appears to have his own scroll, which he can use to unlock the door to his team's dorm.

In Episode 14, Forever Fall, Pt.2, after Jaune is knocked back by an Ursa's blow, he checks his scroll to see that his Aura is in the red.

In Episode 16, Black and White, Ozpin is seen with a scroll observing the live feed of Ruby at the docks (where an intense battle took place) and receiving a message from Qrow.

Functions and Capabilities
The scroll is clearly more advanced, in some ways, than contemporary handheld devices. Visibly they are nothing more than a translucent touch-sensitive panel between two solid end grips; the interlocking design of these grips allows the unit to be collapsible, much like a scroll of paper (hence the name). Each scroll has a yellow diamond-shaped button in its precise center when the device is in its closed state. The user presses this button to unlock the two hand-grips and deploy the screen. This button also flashes when the scroll gives an audible alert (for example, when a new message has been received).

They are shown with a range of sensory and interfacing functions, such as relaying information from surveillance devices in real time, and monitoring the health of multiple persons at once. Several icons at the top right of the display hint at Internet-style browsing functions, such as 'home', 'search', and 'mail'; there are also 'folder' icons indicating that the device can be used to store data. The 'mail' function has been shown to access voice messages as well as displaying text-only short messages (similar to the real-world SMS system). They seem to also function as keys, seen when Ruby asks Jaune if he locked himself out of his room and he denies it while showing her his Scoll as proof. Whilst in voice message mode, Jaune's scroll is also showing an audio pattern analyzer window. It isn't clear if this is a standard part of the audio playback software or if it's a individual preference setting used by Jaune.

Two distinctly different types of Scroll have so far been seen. Teachers at Beacon Academy have units with screens similar in size to a piece of standard letter paper and charcoal gray handgrips. Students are issued white slightly smaller units with white hand-grips that can deploy to a pocket notepad size or a size closer to a mid-sized tablet PC. It is not clear if scrolls at Beacon Academy are standalone devices, or mobile terminals for a larger, fixed computer system that serves all the students and faculty.

During his battle with the Ursa in Episode 14, Jaune's scroll showing his Aura gauge appears to be attached to his shield. This suggests scrolls have some means to be mounted to other objects depending on the user's needs.

Trivia

 * Ruby mentions on her Twitter account that she has to get her own scroll, now that she's been moved ahead two years. This implies that scrolls are supplied by Beacon Academy, and that they are not needed at Signal Academy or not used anywhere else.
 * So far only Beacon staff and team leaders have been seen owning a scroll.
 * There seem to be two different types of Scroll, a smaller version and a larger pad version used by the staff.