The Squishable Smartphone
The shape shifting smartphone could well be the way of the future. Those sleek solid shells will be discarded and the phone will be able to change the way it looks depending on its situation and what it is trying to convey to its owner.
The first of these squishable phones is called the Squeeze Block and tiny motors have been incorporated in its skin. It is being developed in the University of Washington in Seattle.
The case of the phone feels like a spring. It has a number of pressure plates which respond to being squeezed and the force of the squeeze. The motors then control; the amount of resistance the phone exerts in response to this force. These factors can be programmed so that they provide a communication channel between the user and the phone that does not require any attention from the eyes of the user.
In an early demonstration of this system, it is possible to determine the amount of remaining battery life. When the phone is resistant to squeezing, then this indicates that the battery is fully charged, but as the battery runs down, the squishiness of the phone increases. Another example is emails and messages; as the mail box fills up, the phones squishiness decreases.
There are many other possibilities for this type of communication. By squeezing the phone in a particular way, it can convey information regarding any of its functions and functions, such as i! ts ring level, can be controlled with a little squeeze.
Other phones are being developed that communicate by changing shape and this functionality is being developed as a navigational aid so that you can be guided through a foreign city without having to look at your phone.
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