Flexible

In a new step towards truly wireless charging, engineers have developed an ultra-thin device that captures Wi-Fi signals and converts them into electricity.

Currently, if you want to measure someone's blood oxygen levels, you have to use an oximeter that clips onto their finger. An experimental new system, however, is able to check those levels anywhere on the body – and that could mean big things for the field of medicine.

​In order to utilize a traditional actioncam to its fullest, people may make use of things like handlebar mounts, selfie sticks and bendy-legged mini tripods. Oppy is intended to make such accessories unnecessary, as it features a long flexible body.

Flexible living spaces are growing more attractive as urban developers grapple with booming populations and ever-limited space. Automaker Mini is turning its eye for compact design to this emerging architectural trend with a series of micro apartments that maximize lifestyle options.

​Regular ultrasound probes have flat bases, which means they only work best when scanning objects that have similarly-flat surfaces. So, what happens if you want to inspect something that's curved or otherwise "irregular" in shape? Well, that's where a new ultrasound patch comes in.

Rubber and metal are usually thought to sit at opposite ends of the stiffness spectrum, but a new composite material developed at Iowa State University could switch from the flexibility of the former to the stiffness of the latter after being bent, twisted or squeezed.

It's an exciting time in display technologies, with flexible and transparent screens popping up regularly, albeit in the lab rather than on our devices. LG just set a new high bar though, with a huge 77-inch OLED screen that you can see through and roll up.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida have created a supercapcitor that can not only be fully-charged in mere seconds, but can go on to be recharged more than 30,000 times without affecting performance or capacity.

​​With the rise of mobile technologies comes a need for mobile power sources, and scientists are now claiming another step forward in the form of solar-energy-storing filaments that could one day lace power-generating outerwear for soldiers in the battlefield.​

Roofs have long been the realm of solar panels, but soon, they might make their way indoors too. A Virginia Tech team is developing low-cost, flexible solar tiles that could be incorporated into curtains and wallpaper to capture both natural sunlight and artificial light.

​Flip phones may have died out with MySpace, but if technology in a patent awarded to Apple this week eventuates into a commercial product, a future iPhone may bring them back. The document describes carbon nanotubes in flexible printed circuits, allowing devices that can bend along a seam.

Claimed to be the world's first virtual musical instrument for flexible phones, Queen's University's new "WhammyPhone" prototype promises kinesthetic control never before experienced on a smartphone.