Soon smartphones, cameras and tablets will come with airbags that will stop them from getting smashed when dropped. Tech giants Amazon have come up with the innovative concept of adding airbags with motion-sensing technology, which is already built into most smartphones. The technology helps detect when the device has dropped and the mini airbag is deployed before the it hits the floor.
Amazon has patented the system for mobiles phones, electronic readers such as its Kindle, tablets and cameras. The patent, which was approved this week, says “Prior to impact between a surface and a device, a determination of a risk of damage to the device is made. If the risk of damage to the device exceeds a threshold, a protection system is activated to reduce or eliminate damage to the device.”
The patent illustrates a system that leverages on a gadgets’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accel, and other onboard sensors to determine if the device has ‘entered an airborne state’. If the device has, the tech will deploy the airbag to minimise the impact or even change the trajectory of its fall by firing jets of air.
The idea of introducing airbags in mobile phones sounds interesting, considering a lot of users across the world spend a lot of money on repairing/replacing the cracked screens. “An airbag incorporated into a phone might mean the end of cumbersome cases, but it might be impractical to produce. Jeff Bezos is a man known for going his own way and being successful, but I think the real question is: Has he come up with this idea because he keeps dropping his own phone?”
And Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: “What’s next, smartphones with built-in parachutes? Or maybe handsets with wings and propellers? This sounds like a feature worthy of Bond, codename SOS SMS. But airbags for windbags sounds like a lot of hot air to me. From a logistical point of view, the handset would have to be rather bulky to hide an airbag.”
Source and Image courtesy: Daily Mail
Also read,
GE develops ultra-thin, almost-silent cooler for next-gen laptops and tablets
Phorce: A smart bag that charges your gadgets on the go
French designer comes up with a Bonsai-shaped mobile charger, Electree
Japanese researchers working on a ‘transparent’ car