Sick of dealing with cracked screens? A cracked or shattered screen would definitely hurt for any smartphone user. What is even worse is the huge money that goes into it to get it repaired. Well, that may not be the case in the future. Motorola wants to put an end to all those expensive smartphone screen repairs. Yes, the company has recently applied for a patent on a phone screen that is capable of healing its own cracks and damages.
The patent for a self-repairing phone display, which was filed by Motorola in February 2016, was granted on just last week. The company is looking into developing a smartphone that can heal its own cracked display with heat, including the phone’s own heat or the user’s body heat over a period of time. And it is based on a material that when heated, is able to “reverse some or all of the deformation” that has occurred.
The patent has mentioned the screen to be made of a special type of plastic known as a “shape memory polymer,” which can essentially come back to its original shape/condition after being deformed, by simply applying some heat. The screen made from a “shape memory polymer” would have “thermal elements” in it that could detect deformations (such as crack, scratch, or unwanted bend) in the screen. Then the heat would be applied to the shape memory polymer screen as the solution to reversing the damage that has been done.
However, don’t expect the phone to start renewing and look as good as new. According to the patent, the heat reaction on the polymer screen can’t promise to fix all of the damages, especially caused by users’ clumsy behavior. But it will fix as much as it can.
While the patent may sound cool and exciting, there is no guarantee that Motorola would develop the smartphones using this technology anytime soon. But let’s hope for it to take place as this kind of a screen will certainly help those of us who drop our phones from time to time.
