Smartphone “airbags”

Amazon, a huge online retailer and technological company, has successfully patented the idea of smartphone “airbags” that will protect the smartphones from damage after being dropped due to the attached motion sensors. These motion sensors would protect the phone from impact of the floor as a result of mini airbags and jet streams.

The patent for the idea was filed in America by Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, 48, a self-made billionaire.

He wrote in patent, “A system and method for protecting devices from impact damage is provided. Prior to impact between a surface and a device, a determination of a risk of damage to the device is made. If the risk of damage to the device exceeds a threshold, a protection system is activated to reduce or substantially eliminate damage to the device.”

Smartphone Airbag demonstration

This technology uses the onboard sensors ranging from built-in gyroscope to camera and accelerometers to check whether the device has entered the airborne state. If it has entered, the airbags will be released to reduce impact or the trajectory will be changed by firing jets of air.

This mini airbag technology can also be used in a range of other electronic devices such as Amazon’s own Kindle, computer tablets and cameras.

This protective system is thought to have a huge market because repairing the phones cost tens of millions of dollars annually in the world.
