The Transparent Smartphone

 

Samsung is working on a transparent
phone and you might be thinking.
I feel like I've heard this news
somewhere before well that's because
they started registering patents for it.
Seven years ago they registered more
patents in 2018 and then again literally a couple of
weeks ago all of this points towards one
thing.
That we don't know when it's coming we
actually don't even know if it's coming
but we do know that behind the walls of
Samsung HQ.
This is being worked on now there's
someone who's grown up watching a lot of
SCI-FI.
Where it's practically a stereotype of
the future to have transparent displays
and transparent phones.
It is crazy to me that this isn't
fiction anymore.
Literally last month Xiaomi announced a
transparent tv.
You can go into the store demo if you
could take one home if you like it.
It is a real product a device that can
display a vibrant old picture and then
when it's off just disappear into a
razor-thin sheet of glass.
I mean I say that but I'll be the first
to admit that this particular usage case
is not a smart idea. I think a living
room tv system is-
probably one of the top five worst use
cases of a transparent display
because you generally sit a tv in one
spot and then never really move it.
You're not gonna notice the transparency
unless you get up and walk around it
and because it's probably sitting in
your living room chances are all it's
going to do
is remind you what the back of your wall
looks like and
potentially even remind you of that
spaghetti of cables you had behind your
screen,
plus the recommended usage scenario for
transparent TVs right now
is making sure the wall behind is dark
but think about that for a second.
If the wall behind your tv is dark it
might as well not be a transparent tv
now it actually would make sense if it
was like a fitted panel something that
people could install in a place where
they were going to have glass anyways
but it just so happens that that glass
is also their tv. But anyway yeah I'm
not
hugely sold on that idea and to be
really fair in all of this sci-fi
movies
as prevalent as these see-through
displays and see-through phones are
there's never really an explanation as
to why I feel like a lot of people are
convinced that this
is the future but often just because
well
it's futuristic but that in itself is
just a self-fulfilling prophecy
yes it's a screen protector I'm gonna
roll with it
so is a transparent smartphone any
better
I would argue yes and I do think it's
possible
the idea would basically be to have a
transparent display and then
all your transparent components sitting
directly behind it
and then all the things that you
couldn't make transparent shove them
into the bezels
and I get that this sounds like science
fiction but we are getting there
transparent circuit boards are a thing
transparent cables are a thing
even transparent batteries are starting
to become a thing
so yes whilst a fully transparent phone
is going to take time
I'm just saying that I think it's
plausible so why would you want one
oh and if you enjoyed this video by the
the way a sub to the channel would be
miraculous now there is already the very
obvious perk of
transparent is cool and if you gave me a
a couple of hours I could probably name
you 100 products that are founded on
this premise alone
but to be fair I think with transparent
phones there is more to it than that
there is a minor safety benefit people
walk around the street staring at their
phones
you could argue that if your phone is
transparent you at least have some
awareness as to what's happening around
you
but also if we just take a closer look
at the patents, Samsung's been 
some of the detail a display that can
because it's transparent
be used on both the front and the back
it might mean that you could use your
phone normally without
obstructing your view with a finger it
might mean you could effectively pinch
objects you'd almost have another
dimension when interacting with digital
content
this device right here for example was
something created by Japanese mobile
operator DoCoMo where you could for
For example, use one hand on the back to hold
03:31
a Rubik's cube
still and another to rotate parts of it
like you would in real life and just
bear in mind that that demo
was from 2012. there is the obvious
problem with the transparent device that
whatever's happening right behind you
might interfere with what you're trying
to see
but we already know that this is a
solvable problem because glass
can tint itself transparent display
glass can adjust its transparency on the
fly
you've seen that one plus concept one
phone right it actually employed this
exact technique
darkening its glass to make its cameras
disappear from view
but all this stuff is fairly minor i
think the big selling point of a
transparent phone
is augmented reality see even now we can
play games like pokemon go with these
virtual creatures running around in our
real world
we can scan text in a foreign language
and convert it to our own we can measure
the distance of real-world objects
but in a current way that this is done
there's a disconnect
between you and the real world that
you're interacting with what you're
actually seeing is not really what's in
front of you
it's just a representation of what's in
front of you shown on a screen
which in itself is just information
displayed by the camera
of your phone it doesn't feel real it
doesn't feel like your reality is
actually getting augmented
but with a transparent phone, you can
bypass all of that
imagine literally just holding up this
a digital pane of glass and seeing those
objects alive
right in front of you, it would be the
next level of immersion
all that said I don't think transparent
phones are gonna become a thing
see two of the biggest most persistent
trends in technology
other a people want to be as connected
as possible
always online always just one
interaction away from other people
and b at the same time more than ever
people want
immersion a way to lose themselves in
digital worlds that feel as real as
possible
that's why people love VR so much but
where do these two things
lead us because then they almost kind of
seem like contradictions
like how can you be always connected and
always interacting with other people
if at the same time you've sunk into a
digital experience
well I would argue that it all leads us
to a mixed reality
a world where digital becomes fused with
the physical you are
completely immersed but at the same time
so is everyone else
so you're always connected and there are
huge benefits to this
you wouldn't need road signs to know
where you're driving you wouldn't need
great weather to be able to look out the
window and see a bright sunny day you'll
be able to learn everything you need
about an item in a shop
before you actually pay for it and most
importantly pokemon go
could actually be what it was in the
initial trailer with people wandering
around their real world
catching seemingly real pokemon that's
the dream
and I do get that at the same time this
sounds just as terrifying as it is
exciting
so if you don't want a full video kind
of delving into the meat of it let me
know
but what I think is that by the time we
see this in real products that you can
actually, go out and buy
we'll be ready for it and people will
want it
so with all that in mind yes a
the transparent smartphone would be
a step above a normal phone in immersing
you into this digital world
but there's a competing product that
would be two steps above
augmented reality glasses if the real
the world is merging with the virtual
then it makes complete sense for you to
be able to access this through something
you can wear as opposed to something you
have to hold
instead of having to install a
transparent display in my car 15 in my
house and then
100 in my shop it makes sense to just
have
one transparent display that can do
everything and it makes sense for that
display
to not be on a smartphone but to be on
your face
plus by the time a transparent phone is
completely viable I think we'll already
be on our third generation of ar glasses
so 
enough time to become a thing
I suppose the next step above glasses
would be something implanted inside of
you so that you could still interact
with the digital world