Gizmorama - February 22, 2016

Good Morning,

It seems that smartphones can do just about anything these days; anything but be flexible. Hey, not so fast Mr. Pessimist. It seems that researchers at Queen's University have created the very first flexible smartphone. You're welcome!

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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* Researchers create wireless flexible smartphone *
KINGSTON, Ontario - Researchers at Queen's University have created the first flexible smartphone. The wireless device boasts a high-resolution, full-color screen that responds to touching and bending.

Just as current software allows smartphones to respond to various combinations of finger movements, the newly invented flexible smartphone -- dubbed ReFlex -- and its apps respond to different bend gestures.

"When this smartphone is bent down on the right, pages flip through the fingers from right to left, just like they would in a book," Roel Vertegaal, a computer scientist and director of Queen's Human Media Lab, said in a press release.

"More extreme bends speed up the page flips," Vertegaal continued. "Users can feel the sensation of the page moving through their fingertips via a detailed vibration of the phone. This allows eyes-free navigation, making it easier for users to keep track of where they are in a document."

The smartphone uses mostly components that are already part of other commercial products -- a hi-def 720p LG Display Flexible OLED touch screen and Android 4.4 "KitKat" circuit board. But the ReFlex is enhanced by newly developed bend sensors behind the display.

When ReFlex users exercise bend gestures on the display, their fingers are met with passive force feedback and voice coil -- features that simulate the physical forces of real-life interaction with a 3D object.

"This allows for the most accurate physical simulation of interacting with virtual data possible on a smartphone today," Vertegaal said.

The technology can enhance to user experience when playing a game like Angry Birds and employing a virtual slingshot.

"As the rubber band expands, users experience vibrations that simulate those of a real stretching rubber band," Vertegaal explained. "When released, the band snaps, sending a jolt through the phone and sending the bird flying across the screen."

Researchers demonstrated their new technology at this week's ACM International conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction, held at Stanford University.


*-- Study: Link between sleep loss and social media usage --*
IRVINE, Calif. - A new study from the University of California at Irvine found a link between social media usage and lack of sleep.

The study didn't look at how much social media usage might cause lack of sleep, but how people who aren't getting enough sleep use social media, like Facebook. Ultimately, the less sleep they got, the more irritable they became and the more likely they were to shift between computer screens and have "heightened distractibility."

"When you get less sleep, you're more prone to distraction," said lead researcher Gloria Mark, a UCI informatics professor. "If you're being distracted, what do you do? You go to Facebook. It's lightweight, it's easy, and you're tired."

The study looked at 76 students across gender, age and course load and equipped their phones and computers with sensors to record how and when they used social media and had the test subjects were interviewed to find out how they felt.

Sleep deprivation has ripple effects through an economy, leading to greater incidence of workplace accidents and car crashes. If experts like Mark can better understand how sleep deprivation affects people, better products and better technology can be utilized to alleviate it.

The results of the study will be released in full in May.

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