What does the future hold for phone, tablet, and laptop screens? They could get super stretchy thanks to some very interesting tech LG is showing off.
Getting a gauge on what the future offers is often difficult — we still don’t have flying cars despite the technology being promised for years, and a meme specifically targeting that.
But sometimes that future technology presents itself in such an exciting way, you can still get a glimpse of what’s to come.
Take foldable phones and foldable computers. Right now, the technology is still expensive, particularly with foldable PCs, but screens that can fold for easy storage in your pocket are gradually coming down in price. It won’t take long before more companies and people are playing with this once-futuristic technology, and more can be done with it still.
LG has shown what that “more” could look like with a strechable screen able to expand up to 50 percent, making it longer with a bit of a pull and stretch. Officially, the screen is a prototype, providing a 12 inch display that can stretch up to 18 inches, using microLED as a light source.
In terms of what the technology can be used for, making tablets and computers deliver big screens in small spaces is one of them, but stretchable screens can also match irregular surfaces, such as clothing or even skin.
LG’s stretchable screens could therefore be integrated into fashion or even car panels, like what BMW did with e-ink screens for a prototype of its own. Alternatively, we could see LG build a wearable computer of sorts, wrapping the technology around the arm like a futuristic panel in a sci-fi film.
There’s no word officially on “what” this technology will be used for, but it’s an intriguing look at where screens could go in the near future.
