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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 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 cool, but because it's useful.
"This represents a completely new way of physical interaction with flexible smartphones," said project member Roel Vertegaal.
"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. 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 playAngry 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.
So we will still have to wait a little while yet before we can have one of our own!
