Researches develop a wireless flexible

smartphone with bend input

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 likeAngry 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.

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