Transparent Smartphones
If you need to ask why you would need a transparent smartphone, you probably don’t really need one. After all, not only would it be hard to find, particularly if transparent when powered down, but others could easily see exactly what you are working on. It is only when you take a step back that you realize that the state of being non-transparent, or opaque, is the weaker condition. If by nature you possess transparency, opacity can be just another option under a menu, while the converse is clearly not true. The real power once you have it, is not just that you get opacity for free, it is that you get everything else in between.
A prototype device being developed by Polytron Technologies from Taiwan, pictured above, shows some of the challenges to making the transparent smartphone a reality.The technology could enable the windows or mirrors in your home to be used as computer monitors and television screens.
The chip, known as (TRRAM) or transparent resistive random access memory, is similar to existing chips known as (CMOS) or metal-oxide semiconductor memory, which we use in new electronics.Butterflies and jellyfish (pictured right) have the unique ability to extract pigment-free color directly from the quantum, so to speak, through precisely configured scales or undulating cilia — tiny “hairs” that protrude from a larger cell. They use these bio-antenna to blink out a measured photon whenever the distance between these hairs matches the wavelength of the illumination that strikes them.
At this point, however, the display is still very much in development. The prototype features no software or operating system, which makes it difficult to visualize in practice. In an interview with The Verge, Polytron general manager Sam Yu acknowledged that the company is still working on integrating a smaller, less conspicuous lithium-ion battery. Transparent lithium ion technology has been in development for some time now, but for the moment, Yu's prototype runs on two small (and very visible) batteries.
Other organisms, particularly the smaller and thinner ones, have more direct means to utilize or deal with incoming radiation as the case may be. Often they must spend significant energy just to shield their DNA from the mutagen rays which penetrate their cells. They also may need to work hard just to be able to be seen by their peers. When creatures are trapped in caves, they quickly turn down their pigment production and lose all ability to express it within a couple of generations. This is for good reason, as light-absorbing melanin and carotenoids are metabolically costly to produce and actuate into position.
For larger creatures, like smartphones, there are a host of effects that arise to oppose transparency. The lens of the eye for example, needs to burn a non-trivial amount of energy just to maintain transparency. To make a large scale device transparent, the first thing you need is transparency of the smaller parts that comprise them. While this appears rather obvious, it is not enough just to put transparent parts together. The more difficult requirement you need is to have a smooth variation in the refractive indexes across the sub components. Fireflies, which we have discussed before, can efficiently emit light through their bodies only by optimizing each inter-phase in the light path as the different tissues are traversed.
In its current form, the device still isn't totally transparent. Most glaring is the SD card, inserted on the bottom left side of the phone, alongside the SIM card. The microphone, camera, and batteries are also visible, though Polytron plans to hide these with a darker glass cover once it goes to production. In its finished state, the phone would feature dual-sided multi-touch displays (front and back), raising new possibilities for OS and UI design.If the display quality is not up to par with the best of today’s AMOLED and LCD screens, a phone using it won’t sell even for its novelty value.
Part of the power of having control over transparency is that, not only can you block light, but you can control the properties of the light that you might let pass through it. In addition to simple point pixel effects like color or polarization, more complex phenomena like refraction and diffraction might be controlled if the resolution of the device is high enough. Spatial light modulators (SLMs) used in optics can be switched at speeds of several thousand hertz, to create virtually any kind of wave front that is desired.
The looming question though is whether or not the market even wants a translucent device. Companies like Samsung, LG, and others have been touting larger transparent displays for years now, but aside from the occasional Far East prototype, there hasn't been as concerted an effort around smaller, more Tony Stark-friendly form factors Polytron, of course, has relatively more real estate to work with, though it's unclear whether transparency alone will be enough to woo consumers. Aside from its dual-screen feature — a design already seen in devices both old and new — the prototype doesn't seem to offer a significantly different functionality. Its form factor may be appealing , though industry analysts say the success of Polytron's prototype, or any transparent device, will ultimately hinge upon whether its display offers more than mere novelty value.
A prototype device being developed by Polytron Technologies from Taiwan, pictured above, shows some of the challenges to making the transparent smartphone a reality.The technology could enable the windows or mirrors in your home to be used as computer monitors and television screens.
The chip, known as (TRRAM) or transparent resistive random access memory, is similar to existing chips known as (CMOS) or metal-oxide semiconductor memory, which we use in new electronics.Butterflies and jellyfish (pictured right) have the unique ability to extract pigment-free color directly from the quantum, so to speak, through precisely configured scales or undulating cilia — tiny “hairs” that protrude from a larger cell. They use these bio-antenna to blink out a measured photon whenever the distance between these hairs matches the wavelength of the illumination that strikes them.
At this point, however, the display is still very much in development. The prototype features no software or operating system, which makes it difficult to visualize in practice. In an interview with The Verge, Polytron general manager Sam Yu acknowledged that the company is still working on integrating a smaller, less conspicuous lithium-ion battery. Transparent lithium ion technology has been in development for some time now, but for the moment, Yu's prototype runs on two small (and very visible) batteries.
Other organisms, particularly the smaller and thinner ones, have more direct means to utilize or deal with incoming radiation as the case may be. Often they must spend significant energy just to shield their DNA from the mutagen rays which penetrate their cells. They also may need to work hard just to be able to be seen by their peers. When creatures are trapped in caves, they quickly turn down their pigment production and lose all ability to express it within a couple of generations. This is for good reason, as light-absorbing melanin and carotenoids are metabolically costly to produce and actuate into position.
For larger creatures, like smartphones, there are a host of effects that arise to oppose transparency. The lens of the eye for example, needs to burn a non-trivial amount of energy just to maintain transparency. To make a large scale device transparent, the first thing you need is transparency of the smaller parts that comprise them. While this appears rather obvious, it is not enough just to put transparent parts together. The more difficult requirement you need is to have a smooth variation in the refractive indexes across the sub components. Fireflies, which we have discussed before, can efficiently emit light through their bodies only by optimizing each inter-phase in the light path as the different tissues are traversed.
In its current form, the device still isn't totally transparent. Most glaring is the SD card, inserted on the bottom left side of the phone, alongside the SIM card. The microphone, camera, and batteries are also visible, though Polytron plans to hide these with a darker glass cover once it goes to production. In its finished state, the phone would feature dual-sided multi-touch displays (front and back), raising new possibilities for OS and UI design.If the display quality is not up to par with the best of today’s AMOLED and LCD screens, a phone using it won’t sell even for its novelty value.
Part of the power of having control over transparency is that, not only can you block light, but you can control the properties of the light that you might let pass through it. In addition to simple point pixel effects like color or polarization, more complex phenomena like refraction and diffraction might be controlled if the resolution of the device is high enough. Spatial light modulators (SLMs) used in optics can be switched at speeds of several thousand hertz, to create virtually any kind of wave front that is desired.
The looming question though is whether or not the market even wants a translucent device. Companies like Samsung, LG, and others have been touting larger transparent displays for years now, but aside from the occasional Far East prototype, there hasn't been as concerted an effort around smaller, more Tony Stark-friendly form factors Polytron, of course, has relatively more real estate to work with, though it's unclear whether transparency alone will be enough to woo consumers. Aside from its dual-screen feature — a design already seen in devices both old and new — the prototype doesn't seem to offer a significantly different functionality. Its form factor may be appealing , though industry analysts say the success of Polytron's prototype, or any transparent device, will ultimately hinge upon whether its display offers more than mere novelty value.
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Your contents are completely awesome and share worthy. I really appreciate your efforts that you put on this. Keep sharing. For more Transparent Screen related information visit zoomvisual.com.sg.
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