Could Rubik’s Cubes Be the Future of Touchscreens?

What happens when you combine a timeless puzzle with modular phones? Researchers from the University of Bristol’s Interaction Group have the answer to this question in the form of an amazing new reconfigurable touchscreen device that resembles the style of the classic Rubik’s cube.

Named the Cubimorph, the device provides a single display that can be formed from a number of smaller cubic devices that have tiny individual displays on four out of their six sides. These cubes can easily be chained together or arranged in almost any way imaginable with a large amount of flexibility. Some of the designs proposed by the team in use cases included the ability to fold and shape a typical flat smartphone-like arrangement into one resembling a game controller or even turn the phone into a long thin stick with a tiny single-cube display on one of the ends. Thankfully for those wanting to create a unique form for their device but lacking a plan to create it, an optimal way to fold the cubes can be found using an algorithm developed by the team.

Currently, the Cubimorph is just an early prototype and it is currently hard to imagine where space could be found in the device for smartphone mainstays such as the camera. The Interaction Group will be presenting the Cubimorph prototype to a panel at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation at the end of the week.