Patent Filing Points to Flexible, ‘Pressable’ Displays from Apple

It seems that LG and Samsung aren’t the only companies toying with flexible display technolgoy. Apple is also working on developing devices with flexible displays that allow users to press down as a form of input, according to a new Apple patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent, titled “Embedded force measurement” was published today and suggests Apple is investigating devices with such a display. The patent describes a screen with a force detection sensor within a flexible display.  Apple’s current touch displays work in a two-dimensional environment; the patent is proposing a three-dimensional environment for its display.

The patent filing notes OLED as the probable choice for the display technology. The flexibility of the display can be varied based on location on the screen. That way, parts of the screen users are most likely to interact with could be pressable, while other areas would be more rigid. The user interface could also function differently based on the amount of pressure applied. For example, volume could be turned up in increments based on the force being applied to the screen.

The patent was originally filed in 2011 and suggests that the technology may be used on wearable gadgets with smaller surface areas that require more dimensions to its user interface.

Source: Apple Insider