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In a lot of the “future world” videos produced by technology companies, we are supposed to be wowed by devices that look far different from today’s tablets and smartphones. One common theme is the use of a device that is entirely display and is capable of adapting to the needs of the user at a given time. It would be pretty cool technology, but, up until now it, was nearly impossible to achieve, making the videos more sci-fi than future tech.

Enter Atmel, a semiconductor manufacturer. The company released a product called XSense, which allows for the creation of flexible, touch sensitive displays by making the sensors themselves thin and film-based. Atmel’s technology changes the game when it comes to device design.

“Traditional touch sensors are typically brittle and may crack, not allowing it to bend,” Atmel’s Global Communications Manager Agnes Toan told ExtremeTech. “Atmel XSense is very flexible, allowing touchscreens to have curved, sleek surfaces and flexible displays.” This is not the stuff of concept videos, it is very much a real product.

While Atmel only deals with the touch sensors, there is plenty of recent movement around flexible displays. ExtremeTech’s Sebastian Anthony wrote last month about flexible e-ink displays now in production by LG. Other prototypes were all over CES 2012, so the technology is out there.

Atmel tells us that XSense samples are in the hands of select partners, with the production of actual devices starting over the summer. The first product will then appear during the fourth quarter of this year, and the company expects “significant volume ramp” in 2013. We prodded them several times for manufacturing partners, but the company declined to name any.

Apple has worked with Atmel from time to time, and it’s probably no coincidence that Cupertino has teased edgeless mobile displays in patent filings. It would not be surprising to see Apple take a hard look at this technology for use in future iOS devices.

Beyond Apple, Atmel’s touchscreens have made it into Samsung, LG, and HTC touch devices — so where the first XSense-enabled product appears is anybody’s guess. But, as Atmel is telling us here, the future is a lot closer that you might think.

The neat part of this technology is what it will do for the functionality of the devices themselves. Now that the screen is able to curve over, developers will be able to change the buttons on the side of the device. The interfaces we need for a phone call versus taking a picture are completely different, and now there finally is a way to solve that problem.

All of a sudden those future videos don’t look so sci-fi anymore.