Scientists make a touch tablet that rolls and scrolls | Hacker News Reader

Scientists make a touch tablet that rolls and scrolls

techcrunch.com

62 pointsOurs9035 comments

The actual engineering behind this is neat. The prototype nor demo video seemed very alluring.

Perhaps someone will take this idea and do something interesting with it. At the moment I don't see it improving upon the current smartphone.

Yeah what I want is a smart phone that has something similar that I can pull out more of the screen (or a Tablet) but the line in the middle kind of ruins it, if there can be a hard to see line in an end product it would be impressive as hell. I love the idea of having a smartphone and then extending it into a tablet format to consume video from Netflix or whatever service. Same with a Tablet, turn a 7 inch tablet to a slightly larger form factor to see even more detail.

I think one phone manufacturer had a decent idea to have it where you had a "flip touchscreen phone" but my guess is it hasn't taken off since I rarely see anything about it since, it's an interesting concept though, not necessarily wrong.

My absolute dream phone is something like the size of the new Samsung Note, and it would fold out to double the screen size for watching videos, and run desktop Linux/Win10. I could then use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse like I can now on Android, and it could be my only device I own.

Sounds like you want the Samsung Galaxy X[0]. If it runs Dex (unclear right now) you'll get desktop Linux in a foldable phone with bluetooth capabilities. I believe the screen is going to be 7.3" but not sure if that's unfolded or folded.

[0] https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-x-the-story-of...

Sounds pretty awesome. I'm keen to see what it ends up being. Not sure why they would need a curved battery. I'm imagining it like a book, with just a normal flat battery each side. Maybe they're thinking like a loosely folded piece of paper before it creases.

All the moving parts and flexible pieces seem like a failure point to me. I'd like to see something that can project a touchscreen onto a tabletop.

Something you keep in your pocket that projects itself to different screens around your home would be interesting too, and anywhere you go.

They sold smartphones with projectors a few years ago. They were bulky and not very popular. One issue with current projector technology is keeping the image straight. You also need a place to rest the device near the surface. Logistically it’s a pain. Future tech could improve this, but right now it’s not great.

When is it okay to say something is engineering vs science?

Personally I would classify this as engineering. Not so sure...

I think you'll get as many answers as there are opinions.

FWIW, to me the line in the sand is drawn where you need to build it in a reasonably cost efficient manner. (Which is to say, most science involves engineering to some degree. NASA and the LHC need to try to make what they do fit in some budget at the end of the day.)

Engineering is applied science. Scientists discover the lower level principles, engineers package that into a product.

While it's dangerous to make predictions about the future of technology, I don't foresee any mobile product coming out that isn't "flat." How is anyone supposed to fit that into a pocket? Even in a purse or messenger bag it would be unwieldy.

I'm going to purchase this and make every intern have one, using it to run and read out information to me, so I can finally start my quest to become a technomongolian warlord

think bracelet

What would be the killer application for this technique?

I don't see the advantages, because the thing is clunkier than a smartphone and handling it seems odd.

What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit-card, that can project a bigger screen on a flat surface (e.g. table or sheet of paper).

> What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit-card, that can project a bigger screen on a flat surface (e.g. table or sheet of paper).

That also sounds very clunky to me. Projection requires a white, yet unlit surface to work well. People are unlikely to have one of these handy while out and about. Added to which, it makes touch control impractical, except in the case of back-projection.

What I want is a smartphone the size of a credit card that can project any size virtual screen anywhere in any direction—no surface required.

You project a keyboard too, in a different direction. Then a Lidar sensor to detect finger position.

>> I don't see the advantages, because the thing is clunkier than a smartphone and handling it seems odd.

Getting to be less clunky is the first step. When it rolls up to the size of a pen then it'll be awesome. And I'd like to add that while I don't recall where I got the pen idea from, I did not come up with it first so this is not a "novel" concept. I'd also add that these people are doing engineering, not science.

Ok, but I think they're focusing too much on the systems aspect, instead of on the actual display technique.

The technology is cool, and I can see the flexible displays being used for putting displays on oddly shaped surfaces, and for other applications where you have somewhere a screen can roll into.

But the concept video feels like an April fools joke, or something you would see from the 90s before they came up with better UX. It just doesn't seem as useable or robust as a simple flat surface. Perhaps this technology will allow phones to be even thinner.

Reminds me of N-Gage, innovation that wasn't quite there. I'm wondering how would touching upper part of screen feel like, is it too flappy?

Still waiting for Caprica Paper

http://www.inventinginteractive.com/2010/02/25/caprica-paper...

Interesting, but how do you carry it? It's too big for your pocket, will it have a strap so you can hang it from your shoulder, or what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oieoQYlchMg

That's it, they've finally found it: the worlds worst form factor.

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Agreed.. awkward and it'll kill you wrists.

Since when is 'iPad' the generic word for tablets?

Since at least 2015...

https://www.cultofmac.com/388625/the-nfl-cant-stop-calling-m...

Literally since the iPad first came out for most non-tech people.

That's the video's fault, the article refers to it properly. Also I think it's fair to say that for some time iPad was pretty much the only usable tablet, so it just became synonymous

Yeah, I should have been more clear in my previous comment about that. But I just think it's strange logic. Like, no one is using 'Android' referring to any smartphone, or 'Toyota' when talking about cars, just because they have the largest shares within their fields.

I don't know enough about tablet sale history, but I am under the impression that a few years back iPad was really the only tablet device embracing the format strengths you could get, and the sales hugely reflected that. Android equivalents were just larger smartphones.

As for the logic part, I think it's not as uncommon -> q-tips are just a brand of cotton swabs, hoovers are just vacuum cleaners etc.

Wasn't there a fiber that stiffens under load?

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