"FlexCase" which made smart cover of electronic paper display freely freely foldable is transcendent convenient

Electronic paper adopted by e-book readers such as Kindle has a much lower power consumption than a liquid crystal display such as a smartphone, so its great advantage is that battery ownership is very good. By attaching such electronic paper to the case for smartphone, it was born under the concept of adding a controller other than the second display and the liquid crystal screen to the smartphone "FlexCase"is.

FlexCase - Enhancing Mobile Interaction with a Flexible Sensing and Display Cover (CHI 2016) - YouTube


The movie was projected on a smartphone equipped with Windows Phone. The smartphone "FlexCase" which adopted electronic paper becomes the part which is touched with the left hand attached to the left side of the smartphone.


Tap this electronic paper part of FlexCase ......


The map displayed on the screen of the smartphone indicated a different point from before tapping.


Next tap "B".


Then, a different point is displayed. Apparently it seems that you can register favorite points of map application on electronic paper part.


Then swipe the screen of the smartphone with your right hand and walk around the map ......


Bend FlexCase barely with your left hand, zoom in and out the map. In this way, FlexCase serves not only as an electronic paper display but also as a controller for operating smart phones.


As for how this FlexCase is made, a piezoelectric type printed sensor ... ...


Combined with a 4 inch electronic paper display, it can function as a display and input device.


By installing this on the cover part of the smartphone, it is finished as a device that can be used naturally without disturbing. The prototype in the movie has a white line extending from the cover, but it seems to work well without a line.


In FlexCase, "book mode" to extend the screen, "laptop mode" to touch the display or use the operation to bend the display for operation of the smartphone, touch and bend FlexCase placed on the back side of the device We will assume three modes of "backside mode" to operate smartphones by doing so.


FlexCase's piezoelectric type sensor has a total of 15 sensors, five in the vertical direction and three in the horizontal direction. The following screen monitors what kind of pressure is being sensed by the sensor, 15 blue squares indicate the state of the sensor, and the 3D model on the left shows the state of the smartphone and FlexCase .


When bending the upper part of the FlexCase, the pressure near the center of the sensor is detected as follows and the square of the monitor changes to red.


Bending in the opposite direction. The response of the sensor looks the same, but when you look at the 3D model of FlexCase, you can see that it accurately detects "Electric paper display was bent in either direction".


Furthermore, if you bend only the upper right of the electronic paper display, this way. Only a part of the sensor reacts, and it seems that various bending motions are applied to the operation of the smartphone using such a difference.


In addition, the electronic paper display not only detects bending, but also can determine the swipe action performed on the display firmly.


Furthermore, pressure can be detected.


In the following scenes, first tap the surface of the electronic paper display. Then, the graph shown on the monitor reacts upward.


Then tap the back of the electronic paper display. Then the graph shown on the monitor moved downwards this time. In other words, the FlexCase display can determine whether the front or back of the display was touched, so it is possible to allocate different actions depending on which side you touched.


In addition, the FlexCase display also supports multi-touch.



Demonstration using FlexCase 's excellent sensor started.


Tap the electronic paper display and the display of the smartphone at the same time.


Then the map image was stocked in the tapped place of the electronic paper display.


Next tap different squares of electronic paper display and text on smartphone at the same time.


Then the text was also stocked on the electronic paper display.


Then open the mail ......


Tap the text saved on the electronic paper display and the map image ......


As you can see below, we succeed in copying text and map easily.


Other than that, display an electronic book on an electronic paper display ... ...


Display visual content on smartphone display ......


I bend a FlexCase and feed pages of e-books.


Next, a demonstration of the map application that was held at the beginning of the movie.


Closing FlexCase ...


You can save the point displayed on the map.


It is also possible to bend the top of FlexCase and zoom in and out of the map.


By bending the corner ... ....


Change the map from a plan view to a bird's-eye view ......


You can also rotate it.


In addition, in the case of a camera application, a button for smartphone operation is placed on FlexCase.


Further, bend the corner and zoom in / out ... ...


Bend the other corner and adjust the exposure.



Next time you are enjoying online shopping on a smartphone.


You can do password input operation on purchase screen etc. with FlexCase.


Furthermore, even if FlexCase is folded on the back of the smartphone, if you allocate the action when tapping it, you can operate the main unit without touching the display of the smartphone.


It is in Austria that is developing "FlexCase"Upper Austria Applied Science UniversityIt is one of the laboratoriesMedia Interaction LabOf researchers and,Microsoft ResearchWhenJOANNEUM RESEARCHA team of researchers. FlexCase still has many mysteries as to where to supply power from where, but I feel it is an excellent idea to easily expand the smartphone.

In the past, smartphone "YotaPhone 2" equipped with electronic paper on the back of the main unit was released in Russia, and we have collected popularity because it can solve the problem of the battery.

E-ink Sumaho equipped with rear display "YotaPhone 2" explosive popularity - GIGAZINE