You can turn pages of a book, and launch an explosive *Angry Bird*into the sky, by grabbing this phone at the ends and bending it.
The smartphone prototype, named ReFlex and designed by academics at Queen’s University, Canada, is one of the first true implementations of a bendable screen into mobile OS design. The researchers created the phone with a 720p LG flexible OLED touch screen, Android’s KitKat, and a haptic actuator to detect the phone bending and provide feedback to the user.
The result is a phone that bends not just because it’s pretty, but because it’s useful. “This represents a completely new way of physical interaction with flexible smartphones,” said Roel Vertegaal, who worked on the project, in a statement. “When this smartphone is bent down on the right, pages flip through the fingers from right to left, just like they would in a book. More extreme bends speed up the page flips. Users can feel the sensation of the page moving through their fingertips via a detailed vibration of the phone. This allows eyes-free navigation, making it easier for users to keep track of where they are in a document.”
Sensors behind the display sense the force with which the user is bending the screen, and gives that data to apps for use as an input. ReFlex also has a voice coil, which, the researchers say: “allows the phone to simulate forces and friction through highly detailed vibrations of the display”. “Combined with the passive force feedback felt when bending the display, this allows for a highly realistic simulation of physical forces when interacting with virtual objects.”
As well as a way to flick through books, and tell the phone to select and press various options on screen, the panel also introduces a new way to play Angry Birds; by bending the phone, the strength of the slingshot and its height can be set, before the bird is tossed on its destructive path.
Other than playing games and reading, the researchers believe there are greater uses for the technology — in particular navigating through long lists or websites. However, those hoping for a new iPhone or Android to be controlled by bend will be waiting a while yet. The creators said it would be at least a “couple of years” until the technology would be possible for commercial use.
While bendable and foldable phones have been demonstrated in concept form for a number of years, the technology is only just beginning to hit the market. LG’s G Flex 2 is one of a number of curved smartphone’s produced by the company. Samsung has previously aired concepts of a foldable phone and flexible ‘Morphees’ are another idea for bending phones. But the reality of inflexible battery tech means even curved screens are generally stuck with hard shell cases — for now, at least.
