Polytron Techologies Announces Plans To Design A Transparent Glass Smartphone. Taiwan-based Polytron Techologies, a subsidiary of US firm Polytronix, aims to change the way we look at (and through) glass.
The prototype wasn’t functional, but did illustrate what a glass-based device could look and feel like. Today’s handsets are typically encased in plastic or metal, but Polytron intends to introduce specially designed glass that could contain near-invisible electric wiring. This would create a transparent visual effect, the company told Tech Hive.
The company makes giant projection touchscreens, selectively opaque glass, holographic glass, LED-impregnated glass, color-changing glass, rainbow glass, and glowing glass. Polytron has announced its plans to complete a transparent glass smartphone by the end of 2013.
The company has earlier created Polyvision Privacy Glass, which is an electrically switchable, selectively opaque or transparent pane of glass made of glass, conductive material, and liquid crystal film. In its natural state, the central crystalline structure is randomly oriented, scattering incoming light to make the surface opaque but when an electric current is introduced, the liquid crystals line up and become transparent, transmitting light from one side to the other.
The other firm’s invention is Polytouch Frame, a big transparent touchscreen monitor. The future smartphone prototype seems to rely on the firm’s existing technologies, though there’s a lot to do.