German designer Orkin released a concept video of the Rolltop, a touchscreen computer whose surface consists of little more than a segmentable OLED screen.
In addition to sitting vertically and serving as a laptop, it can be straightened, turned on its side and used as an entertainment system. When not in use, the whole thing rolls away and can be carried on your back.
I wrote the idea off as a creative curiosity, aesthetically interesting at best but impractical at worst (a fully-functional segmentable TOUCHSCREEN? Really? Tall order). But oddly enough, the next day I found out about the prototype laptops, MP3 players and watches Sony showcased at CEATEC 2009 in Chiba, Japan. Each product is made almost entirely with flex OLED technology.
It's not much to look at now, but it doesn't matter; the point is, the yoga-mat-looking laptop thing is feasible -- another dream within arm's reach. Can you imagine having a rollaway VAIO? (Maybe even touchscreen someday?)
Pretend for a second that the near future does in fact contain perfectly practical flex OLED computing and entertainment systems. Think this means we can one day graft moving, engageable entertainment onto the curves of our own skin?
Multimedia tattoos. Homemade videos across our arms, playable, pausable and archivable with the expert brush of a fingertip, as if you were merely dusting dander off your epidermis.
What a strange and exciting time to be alive. I feel like Asimov, peering into a touchable tomorrow.
1 comment:
incredible.
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