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Motorola Patents a Display That Can Heal Its Own Cracked Screen With Heat (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the tender-loving-care dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: A patent published today explains how a phone could identify cracks on its touchscreen and then apply heat to the area in an effort to slightly repair the damage. The process relies on something called "shape memory polymer," a material that can apparently become deformed and then recovered through thermal cycling. Thermal cycling involves changing the temperature of the material rapidly. This material could be used over an LCD or LED display with a capacitive touch sensor layered in, as well. Although the phone could heat the polymer in order to restore it, a user's body heat can be used, too.

5 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no! by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Funny

    And now we're back to putting your phone in the microwave again!

    1. Re:Oh no! by grogger · · Score: 2

      They just need to partner with Samsung - they perfected a rapid heating feature in the Note 7 :-).

  2. I've heard this before by Presence+Eternal · · Score: 2

    Maybe two years ago I was suggesting a customer get a tempered glass screen protector and he says "No, I have a self-healing screen protector. Paid forty bucks for it." He pulls out a phone with a nasty-assed plastic screen protector that was just covered in gouges and bubbles. I couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't insulting, so I just smiled and said "Ahhh."

    The line doesn't perfectly fit, but what came to mind was the quip "Suspension of disbelief does not mean hanging it by the neck till it is dead."

    Just in case any folks here are unaware, use glass or use nothing.

    1. Re:I've heard this before by Khyber · · Score: 2

      "Just in case any folks here are unaware, use glass or use nothing."

      Fuck no. Use quartz. Withstands scratches better, isn't as brittle as glass (besting tempered glass) and isn't prone to cracking from heat/cold cycling because of its insanely low thermal coefficient of expansion, unlike 'sapphire' screens. It's the shit we used for locomotive coal engine car windows. in WWII. There's an old mine for laminar quartz out in Nuevo, still produces insanely tough quartz. Tough enough that a small boulder destroyed my lower wall breaker, and barely sustained any damage.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  3. Re:If it could remove scratches ... by Hidyman · · Score: 2

    It's a solid state phone. I don't think heating it is going to cause the circuitry to change to vacuum tube technology.
    Wait ... I think I misread that.

    --
    You can't take the sky from me ...