Curl power! Paper-thin phone that folds itself over to show you've got a call

Radical paper-thin device could lead to new generation of shape-shifting gadgets

Alloy wires embedded in the screen 'pull' the screen into different shapes

System could be available on mobiles within five years



Researchers have unveiled a shape shifting paper thin mobile phone that curls up when a call is received.

It contains 'smart memory' wires in a thin plastic display.

When a current is applied to them, they contract, causing the display to curl.

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Curl to call: The bendable MorePhone concepts has a paper-thin display that can bend up when a call or text is received

HOW IT WORKS

Sandwiched beneath the display are a number of shape memory alloy wires that contract when the phone notifies the user.

This allows the phone to either curl either its entire body, or up to three individual corners.

Each corner can be tailored to convey a particular message.

For example, users can set the top right corner of the morephone to bend when receiving a text message, and the bottom right corner when receiving an email.

Corners can also repeatedly bend up and down to convey messages of greater urgency.



The handset, dubbed the morephone, was built by a Canadian team using a plastic display built by British firm Plastic Logic.

'This is another step in the direction of radically new interaction techniques afforded by smartphones based on thin film, flexible display technologies' says Roel Vertegaal, director of the human media lab at Queen’s University, who developed the system.

'Users are familiar with hearing their phone ring or feeling it vibrate in silent mode.



'One of the problems with current silent forms of notification is that users often miss notifications when not holding their phone.'



Dr. Vertegaal thinks bendable, flexible cell phones are the future and claims morephones could be in the hands of consumers within five to 10 years.



'W ith morephone, they can leave their smartphone on the table and observe visual shape changes when someone is trying to contact them.'

The handset in its normal state, completely flat on a table

The flexible morephone curling up as a call is received

If a text arrives, a corner of the screen curls up to alert users

The morephone is made of a thin, flexible electrophoretic display manufactured by Plastic Logic – a British company and a world leader in plastic electronics.

Sandwiched beneath the display are a number of shape memory alloy wires that contract when the phone notifies the user.



This allows the phone to either curl either its entire body, or up to three individual corners.



Each corner can be tailored to convey a particular message.



For example, users can set the top right corner of the morephone to bend when receiving a text message, and the bottom right corner when receiving an email.



Corners can also repeatedly bend up and down to convey messages of greater urgency.





