A new report from Unwired View discusses a recently published patent application from Apple that details flexible displays and related technologies that would rely on said displays.
In the patent, numerous strange and odd iPhone forms are highlighted, featuring concave and convex displays. But, it doesn’t stop with flexible displays, Apple also details intriguing features such as microphones and speakers that can be embedded directly into and behind the display and tactile keyboards.
E.g. – by placing an array of piezoelectric actuators below the display and activating them on demand for tactile feedback. This way you have a perfectly smooth surface when you browse the net or read your e-mail. Call up a keyboard, actuators pop up and now you can feel the letters as you type.
Since your display is flexible – it could be able react to the sound vibrations as you speak. So why not put a laser microphone behind the display to capture those vibrations, and get rid of traditional mic holes?
And if you can capture sound vibrations via flexible display, how about generating sound waves? No problem. Just put a transducer behind it to transform electric current into vibrations, add some support structure/barrier around it and that part of your flex display becomes a speaker membrane.
While Apple files a countless number of patent applications, it’s safe to say that the majority of the more interesting ones are never fully integrated into their products. With that said, it’s possible that this patent is an indicator of how Apple thinks their technologies will evolve in the future.
Stay tuned for complete coverage on Apple and some of their more fascinating patents.
