I’ve never really understood the appeal of flexible smartphones before I saw this video. Now it’s changed things forever for me. I want a flexible iPhone! Or, better yet, a bendy iPad! Because flex tech is going to open up whole new ways to interact with devices.
Queens University has unveiled the ReFlex, a prototype flexible smartphone married to a 720p flexible LG OLED display, an an Android 4.4-powered board.
What’s awesome about the ReFlex is how it uses bending the actual device to create a UI affordance. By bending the ReFlex, for example, you can flip through the pages of an eBook or pull back a slingshot in Angry Birds. You can even use the bending mechanism as a way to pursue “eyes-free navigation, making it easier for users to keep track of where [you] are in a document,” according to Queens Media Lab director Roel Vertegaal.
You can see it in action in this video:
This obviously isn’t a device that’s ready to go to market. It’s just a prototype. Still, the researchers believe this technology will become available for smartphone devices within five years. When it does, consider me sold: This looks like a really cool way of interacting with devices. I can’t wait till the world gets a bendable iPhone or Android smartphone.
Source: Queens University
Via: Engadget
