Sometimes, smartphone companies come out with features that revolutionize the way we use these handheld computers, creating history. Other times, they just add features because they look cool. This new feature from OnePlus definitely belongs to the latter category. The company is developing a concept phone that changes its colors as you breathe and includes a motion-tracking radar tool.
The OnePlus 8T concept phone achieves this feat by employing a technology called ECMF (Electronic Color, Material and Finish). The technology uses a color-changing film made of metal oxide. The chemical properties of the metal oxide enables the film to change color from dark blue to silver when voltage is applied to it. The concept phone also has a radar sensor that can help it “perceive, image, locate, and track objects.” It can then respond to the sensor by, among other things, changing the color of the phone.
The color-changing concept is said to use millimeter-wave technology, but unlike the 5G technology of the same name, it just denotes to any radio wave from about 30GHz to 300GHz, no matter how it’s used. mmWave 5G right now operates at 24-39GHz; Soli radar is up at 60GHz.
With all of this, the phone will change its colors as you breathe, which isn’t a really pertinent feature but it’d sure look cool.
OnePlus says the new device was created by OnePlus Gaudí, a team of 39 designers based in Shenzhen, Taipei, New York, and India. At the very least, it shows that the company is focused on more than blazingly fast performance.
“Our designers took inspiration for these colors from the multi-hued flowing water in the hot springs of Pamukkale, Turkey. Nature has perfected many designs, and by drawing inspiration from Pamukkale and other natural elements, we can craft new interaction experiences that are more natural, intuitive, and effortless” said OnePlus in one of its Forums.
This concept phone is part of a trend that OnePlus has been working on. Last year, it had developed a concept phone called Concept One which had a “disappearing” camera that used color-changing smoky glass.
This is a concept phone, so it’s not “coming out.” But maybe we’ll see this color-changing technology on some phones in the future.
