There’s no question flexible screens are coming. But there is some debate on how they’ll be used. The Reflex Smartphone suggests that bending be merged with multi-touch to give phones more input methods. Built using a 720 Flexible OLED screen from LG powered by Android 4.4, the Reflex accepts traditional touch input, but also uses bend sensors behind the display to sense the force you’re using to bend the screen and respond accordingly. When used in conjunction with a voice coil that produces highly-detailed vibrations, the phone is able to simulate real-world actions like flipping through the pages of a book or pulling back a rubber band to fling a supernatural bird at some fort-building pigs. It was developed by the Human Media Lab at Queen’s University, and while it’s currently just a proof-of-concept, the Lab expects similar features to appear in consumer products in less than five years.
