PaperPhones use flexible E Ink screens

The days of rigid phones that determine what sort of pants we wear or bags we hold to carry them in could be coming to an end. At the upcoming Association of Computing Machinery Computer Human Interaction 2011 conference in Vancouver, Dr. Vertegaal will be unveiling the PaperPhone. Simply described as a flexible iPhone, this ultrathin, flexible phone is made of a 9.5cm diagonal thin flexible E Ink display.

The PaperPhone can do anything a smartphone does – make calls, play music, store books and hold your contacts. It uses no power when nobody is interacting with it, and can pretty much bend into any shape. No word on whether it’ll be running games for now, but with a phone this remarkable, who needs Angry Birds? The PaperPhone makes use of “bend gestures” – recognizing commands based on how users bend the display instead of touch gestures that are found in today’s smartphones.

Not many details were revealed about the phone – I guess the doctor wants to amaze the world when he finally shows it off on May 10. Watch a video demonstration of the PaperPhone prototype after the break and let us know what you think about the phone.

George Wong
Categories: Cellphones, Concepts
Tags: Concept, e-ink, prototype