New Toshiba LCD Concept Gives Your Arms a Workout

Finally. Thank you, Toshiba. I’ve always found that iPhone pinching gesture to be so unintuitive and weird. I mean, yeah, we’re all used to it now and it’s totally second-nature to most people, but to say it was an intuitive experience is a bit of a stretch.

Speaking of stretching and pinching and stuff, Toshiba has developed a prototype that as far as I’m concerned makes a bit more intuitive sense: a bendable LCD display, controlled by – yes – bend input.

Announced at SID 2010, the panel can zoom in and out by bending accordingly – away for zoom out, toward for zoom in. Simple, right? Totally cool. With the backlight having a curvature radius of 50mm, this system is impressive, but it’s not without its problems; it’s only 800×600, it could easily break if you zoom overzealously, and… well, I can’t think of a second decent application for this interface beyond zooming maps and stuff. Then again, that’s pretty much how I feel about Google Earth, too.

Next time, Toshiba! Next tiiiiime!

Oh, before you click out, slap yourself silly with this quick demo vid showcasing the tech. Really, Toshiba? Does it have to be that glossy? You’re gonna blind somebody.

[Via Tech-On!]