As great as touchscreens may be, they are inherently rigid and must take on a completely flat form. Or do they? Atmel is challenging that notion with the development of its XSense bendable touchscreen technology, flexing its way around all kinds of surfaces.

The obvious application would include tablet and smartphone devices that can then have curved edges and other kinds of designs, but Atmel is quick to point out that the possibilities are limitless. You can create interesting wristwatches with full touchscreen tech, as well as wraparound coffee-maker displays. The tech itself is a flexible, film-based touch sensor that is ultra-thin. I’d imagine that combining XSense with flexible OLED display tech could make for some gorgeous products. Looking at the video, edgeless displays are a distinct possibility.

Atmel isn’t exactly new to this game either, having contributed to the touchscreens of devices like the Galaxy Note. Even so, I almost feel like this is a product pitch that belongs on Dragons’ Den or Shark Tank. “Today, dragons, I’d like to present to you an idea I have for flexible touchscreen technology. I am prepared to offer 5% of my company in exchange for $200,000.”

[Source via Atmel]

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You know how that Acer Iconia tablet does the dual touchscreen thing? This Fujitsu laptop concept takes that idea to another level, because the top display would be constructed with a flexible material, allowing you to bend and flex it to your heart’s desire.

Naturally, the concept is not officially endorsed by the folks at Fujitsu and it just comes by way of Yanko Design. Even so, the idea of having bendable AMOLED screens is moving closer toward the realm of commercial viability. This is just an idea, but it means that you can curve the screen when you want to view it at certain angles, for example.

Another example that the designer uses is to hold the notebook like a book. You then “flip” through the various pages of an e-book or a folder, thumbing it through it as if it had physical pages. I’m not sold on this as a concept, but it would certainly make for quite the novel form factor. And I think that’s just the thing: it’d be novel. I’m not sure it would be useful enough for anyone to actually want it. But hey, innovation is always a good thing.

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