What do tiny motors, shape-shifting metal, and powerful sensors all have in common? They’re part of a potential Motorola foldable phone. Foldable phones are nothing new, but their design and capabilities have come a long way since the days of the original flip phone. And now, 91Mobiles spotted a patent filing from Motorola that suggests an interesting design unlike anything we’ve seen before.
According to 91mobiles, the patent is titled “Autonomous form factor control of a foldable mobile device.” Don’t worry, you won’t be tested on that. It basically boils down to a phone that can adjust its hinge position to help keep the user in the center of the frame, similar to Apple’s Center Stage feature — except this is controlled through hardware, not software.
A series of small motors would control the hinge of the phone to adjust its up and down position according to where you are in the frame. The way it all works gets a bit technical, so just stay with us for a moment. The LRA, or Linear Resonant Actuator, is a motor that works a lot like a spring. The previously mentioned “shape-shifting metal” is actually a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) first designed for use in spacecraft. It’s a type of metal that changes shape when heat is applied, like through an electrical charge.
The way the whole setup works is by measuring whether you are moving closer to the phone or further away. If you move closer, the camera will tilt up — and it does the opposite when you move farther away. The movement isn’t as robust as a dedicated device like the Echo Show 10, but it’s still really impressive for a small phone.
One potential use case is taking a meeting at your desk during the workday. You might lean backward or forward, adjust your chair, or just change your position. The phone will move so that you can still see the screen and, in turn, so that other attendees can see you.
There’s no word on when or even if this phone will come to fruition. Motorola filed a patent, which means it has some idea in mind for this design, but it could be a year or two before we see a functioning product.
