Self-healing smartphone screens get patented by Motorola

Even though Corning has been offering screen protection materials for almost a decade now, smartphone users still complain that their screens are too fragile and prone to scratches and cracks. Cracked displays require complete replacement, and that most of the times costs nearly as much as the phone itself. This could become a thing of the past if Motorola manages to implement their latest self-healing screens in upcoming devices. The patent for the self-healing screen was filed on August 10, 2017, and it presents the use of a “shape memory polymer” that could be restored to a default shape with the selective application of heat.

The patent mentions that “at least some of the deformation” can be repaired, so Motorola is not really promising a full screen reconstruction for now. The heating elements could be triggered only if the device is plugged in, so it would not drain battery life. When the system detects any damage done to the screen, the smart glass system prompts the user to initiate the restoration process. Users can help identify the extent of the damage more accurately by tracing their fingers over the cracked area, so the smart glass would only activate the heat elements from the traced area.

Since this technology has just been patented, we might not see it implemented too fast in upcoming devices. Motorola might as well implement this technology in one of its smartphone mods.

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