Thought Leadership
Smartwatches are now part of many people’s everyday lives. Originally designed as pedometers and sleep trackers, smart watches have long since developed into small health coaches and everyday helpers – with functions such as blood pressure measurement, emergency notifications and sports analysis.
Now a new patent from Samsung suggests that the design has not yet reached the end of its development.
A new display concept
The South Korean technology group Samsung has filed a patent describing a completely new smartwatch design: a watch with an all-round, flexible display. In contrast to previous devices, where the display and wristband can be clearly separated from each other, the new generation will feature a seamless transition. The screen would extend over a large part of the wristband and offer significantly more display space (source: specialist portal Patently Apple).
More content – less hand movement
A key problem with today’s smartwatches is the limited space on the display. This means that only a small amount of information is visible at any one time. In addition, users often have to turn their wrist to read content – which is particularly impractical for sports or everyday use. Samsung wants to overcome these limitations with a split, flexible display. Depending on how the wrist is moved, different areas of the screen could be activated.
The plan is for the watch to be able to adapt to different usage scenarios. For example, the display could show different content when swimming than when reading messages or navigating. The smartwatch should also be able to recognize where the user is looking – and discreetly show content such as personal messages or hide them if others could read them. A clear separation between private and public information would therefore be possible.
According to the patent documents, it is intended for versatile use in everyday situations. Whether for reading news, watching videos or making contactless payments – the new display design would make interaction much more intuitive. The large, flexible display allows a new type of presentation that goes far beyond what current models can achieve.
Dreams of the future or soon to be reality?
As with many patents, it remains to be seen whether the concept described will ever be implemented in a market-ready product. Patent applications are often initial ideas or long-term strategies and do not necessarily lead to market-ready devices. Nevertheless, Samsung’s approach shows how smartwatches could develop further – towards even more individual, intelligent and flexible companions in everyday life.
