Researchers at the Human Media Lab at Queen’s University have developed a wireless flexible smartphone that combines multi touch with bend input. The phone, named ReFlex, lets users experience physical tactile feedback through bend gestures. The device uses a LG Display Flexible OLED touch screen with a resolution of 720p and is powered by an Android v4.4 Kitkat board that is mounted to the side of the display.
There are bend sensors located behind the display of the ReFlex that apps can use for input. There is also a voice coil that allows the ReFlex to simulate forces and friction via detailed vibrations of the display. This combined with the passive feedback that a user feels when bending a display, allows for a realistic simulation of physical forces.
Roel Vertegaal, Director of the Human Media Lab says, “This represents a completely new way of physical interaction with flexible smartphones. 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.” The flexible capabilities of the device can also be used to interact with games like Angry Birds, wherein the bending of the screen simulates the stretching of the slingshot. When released, the bird is sent flying towards the pigs. Vertegaal believes that such devices will be available in the market within five years and a prototype of the device will be unveiled at the Conference on Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI) conference in Eindhoven.
Source: Queen’s University