Several years ago a concept video (below) went around the internet that showed a future Nokia device bending, folding, and doing things that today are still not possible due to limited advances in both circuit and battery technology. Now that doesn’t mean Nokia isn’t trying to make fantasy into reality however. In the video above a demo of “stretchable electronic skin” shows what happens when evaporated gold vapor is combined with standard silicon to produce something akin to a wet tissue after you blow your nose. Sounds nasty, it even looks nasty, but once you get past the super early alpha stage prototype appearance, your mind can start coming up with all the radical possibilities this electricity conducting snot rag can offer.
Take jewelry for example. Those Live Strong bracelets are still popular, so imagine making them into something that could be used to control your mobile phone. It’ll recharge via kinetic energy, similar to how many watches on the market already do today, and it’ll communicate with your device via ultra low power Bluetooth. No dates were given as to when we can expect to see this sort of technology on retail shelves, but if you think back 5, even 10 years ago, about how pathetic and limited mobile phones were, then you look at something like the Apple iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S, or Nokia N8, then you start accepting that this kind of stuff really isn’t that far off.
The best uses of technology are the ones that the original designers never intended, so what will other firms, firms who make products other than mobile phones and mobile phone related products, come up with? Clothes, televisions, cars, walls, chairs, dining room tables, all with an electronic patch of skin somewhere that can be used as a method of interaction.
[Via: Nokia Conversations]