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Tokyo (pte024/20.06.2003/13:58) - Instead of the click of a button, the PDA of the future will be operated through the bending of its frame, say the developers of Sony's Interaction Lab http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/IL/about/index.html . As reported by the New Scientist http://www.newscientist.com , Sony has already tested the concept with a prototype.
The developer behind the prototype is Carsten Schwesig, who has been working together with Ivan Poupyrev and designer Eijiro Mori. To construct the prototype the used a stiff LC display embedded in a flexible plastic block. The plastic in turn contains integrated electric sensors that respond to pressure. The user can, for example, use the touchpad on the side to move a mouse arrow across a map and bend the handheld to zoom into the image.
While the prototype is still quite awkward, Sony's developers envision credit card-sized devices serving a variety of uses in the future. They would function entirely without mechanical parts. Schwesig expects such PDAs to come onto the market within three years.
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