paddle shapeshifting smartphone flips, folds and scrolls

paddle shapeshifting smartphone flips, folds and scrolls
all images courtesy hasselt university

a team of researchers from hasselt university at the expertise center for digital media in belgium have investigated how compact mechanisms used in the construction of three dimensional puzzles could be used to build a device flexible enough to be transformed from a compact phone to a tablet or game controller. the study, combines the flexibility of touch screens with the physical qualities that real world controls provide in a mobile context. to validate the concept, ‘paddle’ was conceived, a highly deformable handset that can be transformed to enact various special-purpose physical controls. 

when folded, one can leaf through panels of the smartphone, as though it were a book with pages

paddle allows for various physical controls to co-exist in a single device, combining the flexibility of touch screens with the physical controls.  the shape-shifting smartphone bridges the gap between different sized mobile devices, employing engineering principles based on the design of folding plate puzzles. watch the video below to see it transform.

pulling the phone opens it to answer calls

the device takes on various forms to accommodate a variety of applications and functions

[h/t] phys.org