Touchscreens are here to stay. Every manufacturer worth their salt on this planet has or is working on the ultimate in touchscreen mobility, but it’s safe to say that touchscreen technology has long-road ahead of it before it is usable enough to replace physical keys and buttons. Capacitance touchscreens, like that on the iPhone are a start. True haptic feedback, like the localized feedback technologies that Nokia and Apple are developing, is the next step.
So, in preparation for a time when technology is advanced enough to warrant a truly all-touchscreen clamshell, James Piatt has whipped up the Plica clamshell concept from the creative depths of his mind. The Plica is a folding clamshell (is there any other kind?) that sports a dual-touchscreen setup in favor of any hard keys or buttons.
Fold the Plica in half and you have a touchscreen slate for quick access, prop up the upper half and you have what amounts to a touchscreen hand-top (a laptop that fits in your hand?), or you can lay both sides of the device flat and make use of unheard of screen real estate.
The Plica, fitted with capacitance touchscreens and haptic feedback would quickly rocket to the top of our gotta-have list. Of course, the Plica is a concept, and as such has very little chance of actually being produced. But, with any luck we’ll be seeing these kinds of form-factors in the next 2-3 years.
[Via: TheRawFeed]