Nissan Announces A New Self-Healing iPhone Case That Repairs Itself From Scratches

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Self-healing-phones

There are hundreds of thousands of cases out there that promise to protect your beloved iPhone, but the ‘Nissan Scratch Shield’ case is the only one that will self-heal itself when you scratch it thanks to the Japanese company’s pioneering paint technology.

It’s the same paint finish used on a number of Nissan and Infiniti cars, but now it’s been applied to a product “that’s prone to scratches through everyday use,” according to Nissan, which explains the three key benefits of its new case:

The case has three key benefits: the highly flexible and elastic properties of Scratch Shield paint technology allows fine scratches to quickly mend themselves; its tactile gel-like rather than glossy surface is more scratch-resistant than conventional paint and provides a better grip; and the case itself is made of ABS plastic – a high grade substance widely used in the automotive industry which is more rigid and robust than other plastics.

I know what you’re asking — because I was asking the same thing when I read the press release — how does the case heal itself? Well, its outer paint is made from polyrotaxane which features a chemical structure capable of reforming itself. When it suffers a “fine” scratch, it will quickly react to change back to its original shape — filling the gap that was created.

Nissan does note, however, that the case will not repair deep scratches that cut all the way through the top paint layer. But it expects the case to perform better than those currently available to iPhone users.

The case is currently in beta testing with initial prototypes being tested by a selected group. But if demand proves strong, Nissan says, it will look to bring the case to market later this year. The company has already linked up with Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo to bring the Scratch Shield technology to its Style Series N-03B mobile phones (above), and it believes “this technology has real scope beyond the automotive world.”

I certainly agree, and I sure hope Nissan’s case makes it to market.

[via The Next Web]

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