From CNET: Samsung this week showed off new display technology that looks kind of like a trampoline. The 9.1-inch stretchable OLED display prototype, which Samsung called the first of its kind, can be flexed in two directions, unlike conventional flexible OLED displays that can be formed in only one direction (such as bending, folding or rolling).
When you press the screen from above, it depresses like a rubber balloon, Samsung said, then bounces back to its original flat shape. "The screen when stretched up or down, even when pressed, has sufficient elasticity to recover," Samsung said.
The company's technology lets the display maintain its original image quality while increasing the screen depth up to 12mm when the display is pressed.
The technology is only a prototype right now, and Samsung couldn't say when it could show up in real products. But the company predicted that it may one day be used for wearables, internet of things devices, and automotive and artificial intelligence applications.
For instance, the display could be weaved on an information screen tag in a hospital patient's garment to instantly give updates on the patient's medical status. The texture could be similar to fabric so it would be comfortable, Samsung said. Or in self-driving cars, the display could be stretched across the front dashboard, curving with the natural shape of the interior instead of requiring a flat, large display. And for robots, the stretchable display could be used as a face or three-dimensional button that can instantly change from flat to convex shape.
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