In the past we have long fantasized about tablets or phones that we could roll up and put into our pockets, like how we used to roll up newspapers and magazines. Unfortunately such a design would require flexible displays, which are on their way, but in the meantime a team from the Queen’s University’s Human Media Lab have created a working prototype of a smartphone that allows users to add or remove as many screens as they need.

We have smartphones before where they offered up more than one display, like the Kyocera Echo, but unfortunately such devices did not exactly catch on, so we’re not sure why this one will. Dubbed the PaperFold, one of the main differences it has from devices like the Kyocera Echo is that the screens can be added and removed whenever you wanted.

This means that if you wanted a larger display to work on, such as to view maps, surf the web, watch videos, and so on, all you’d have to do is attach another screen to it. In fact you could even arrange the screens in such a way that it could be used to simulate holding a book while you read, which for some is more comfortable than holding a flat device like a tablet or an e-reader.

The displays themselves are a flexible ePaper display from Plastic Logic and will be able to act either independently from each other, or work together when they are connected to one another via magnets. It’s a pretty interesting concept and as it stands, it’s more of a concept rather than an actual device that is being made to be sold in the market.

We’re not sure if the PaperFold will ever become an actual product since we’re not sure if users will appreciate having to carrying around extra screens wherever they go, but it’s an intriguing idea nonetheless. What do you guys think?

Filed in Cellphones . Tags: research. Source: liliputing
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