IBM patents an amazing tablet-deployable smartwatch

March 28, 2020

Shift the November 13, 2019 at 12 h 04 min

IBM has filed a patent describing a device capable of transforming into a smartwatch or tablet thanks to the presence of small foldable screens. A crazy project with difficult to overcome design constraints that is not likely to see the light of day, but that leaves you dreaming.

IBM has filed a patent in which is described a device with a crazy design capable of acting as a smartwatch and unfolding into a large tablet. The document, which was entrusted to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2016, was released a few weeks ago and was spotted by Let’s Go Digital. The Dutch site has made renderings (see above and at the end of the article) of what such a device could look like from the few technical characteristics informed by the patent. We do not know if an object of this taste will see the light of day in the future, but that is clearly a dream.

A smartwatch, a smartphone, a tablet … IBM wants it all at once!

But how would such a technical and technological feat be possible? IBM evokes a device equipped with eight foldable 2 x 3 inch screens each. It would then be up to the user to articulate them as they wish to choose the desired screen size, with an impressive format of 12 x 8 inches in tablet mode once it is fully extended.

Also read: Apple could launch foldable screen iPad 5G

Let us be clear, we are not ready to see such a product land on the market soon. Tons of questions are jostling about the viability of this device. How can we house a battery or photo sensors with so many constraints in terms of design? And what about software. It will not be the day before tomorrow that we will have an OS capable of managing so many screen configurations to perfection and of being able to adapt immediately each time the user folds or unfolds part of the panel. But this kind of patents (and visuals) have the merit of harnessing our imagination.