The shape-shifting future of the mobile phone | Fabian Hemmert | TEDxBerlin

Fabian Hemmert, a PhD student, answers the question, "How can we make digital content graspable for humans?" He shows us 3 ways to bring mobile phones to life.

I am a PhD student
and that means I have a question.

And this question I would
like to share with you.

How can we make digital content
graspable for us, for humans?

Because you see, on the one
hand there is the digital world

and no question many things
are happening there right now.

And for us humans it's not quite material,
it's not really there, it's virtual.

On the other hand, we humans,
we live in a physical world.

It's rich, it tastes good,
it feels good, it smells good.

So the question is

how do we get the stuff over
from the digital into the physical?

That's my question.

If you look at the iPhone with its touch
and the Wii with its bodily activity

you can see the tendency,
it's getting physical.

The question is: What's next?

Now I have 3 options
that I would like to show you.

The first one is mass.

As humans we are sensitive to where
an object in our hand is heavy.

So could we use that in mobile phones?

Let me show you the
weight shifting mobile.

It is a mobile phone shaped box
that has an iron weight inside

which we can move around and
you can feel where it's heavy.

So what we can do with it is
we shift the gravitational center of it.

For example we can augment
digital content with physical mass.

So you move around
the content on the display.

But you can also feel where it is
just from the weight of the device.

Now that's one thing we can do with it.

Another thing it's good for is navigation.

It can guide you around in a city.

It can tell you by its weight,
okay move right.

Walk ahead. Make a left here.

And the good thing about
that is you don't have to look

at the device all the time you
have your eyes free to see the city.

So that's nice.

Now mass is the first thing.

The second thing, that's shape.

We're also sensitive to the shape
of objects we have in our hands.

So if I download an eBook and it has
20 pages, well that could be thin, right?

But if it has 500 pages, I want
to feel that Harry Potter is thick.

(Laughter)

So let me show you
the shape changing mobile.

Again it's a mobile phone shaped box.

And this one can change its shape.

By the way I have them here.
We can play with it later.

Let's see we can play
with the shape itself.

For example it can be thin in your pocket,
which we of course want it to be.

But then if you hold it in your hand
it can lean towards you be thick

it's like tapered to the down side.

You change the grasp,
it can adjust to that.

It's also useful if you want to put it
down on your nightstand to watch a movie.

Let's see how it looks.

Use as an alarm clock.

It stands, it's fairly simple.

Another thing is sometimes we
watch things on a mobile phone

they are bigger than the phone itself.

So in that case, like here this map,
it's bigger than the phone's screen.

The shape of the phone could tell you,

okay off the screen right
here there is more content

you can't see it but it's there.

And you can feel that
because it's thicker at that edge.

So shape is the second thing.

The third thing operates
on a different level.

As humans we are social,
we are empathic and that's great.

Wouldn't that be a way to make
mobile phones more intuitive?

Think of a hamster in the pocket.

I can feel it's doing alright.
I don't have to check it.

Let me show you
the living mobile phone.

Okay so once again
mobile phone shaped box.

But this one has a
breath and a heartbeat.

And it feels very organic.

(Laughter)

And you can tell it's relaxed right now.

Oh now missed call? A new call?

New girlfriend maybe?

Very exciting.

(Laughter)

How do we calm it down?

You give it a pat behind the ears
and everything is alright again.

So that's very intuitive
and that's what we want.

So what we have seen are 3 ways
to make the digital graspable for us.

And I think making it physical
is a good way to do that.

What's behind that
is a postulation namely that

not humans should get much
more technical in the future

rather than that,
technology a bit more human.

(Applause)