Nokia developing stretchable skin smartphone

While the smartphone is most definitely a solid device today, there may come a time when it’s a small flexible piece of material you can wear wrapped around your wrist.

An article up on the official Nokia blog page shows some of the technologies undergoing development at the company’s research lab in Cambridge, one of them being the “skin” phone.

This is a mobile (or indeed other device) made from a stretchable electronic skin, which uses evaporated gold as a conductor to create a touchpad. It can apparently stretch by up to 20% of its original length without causing any problems in its operation.

The future applications could be numerous, with mobile phones being woven into clothing for example. Have a look at the technology being demonstrated on YouTube by the head of the group working on the project, Stephanie Lacour.