IMB Patents foldable smartwatch

Tech giant IBM patented smartwatches which unfold into tablets on June 11, 2019.  IBM had filed for this patent in 2016. This patent build on 9100 patents that the company received in 2018.

Currently IBM does not manufacture any consumer devices. However, the smartwatch-to-tablet patent could be a game changer.

The patent provides for a single panel watch which can unfold into a four-panel smartphone and from there into an eight-panel tablet, with all extra screens housed beneath the smartwatch screen.

The patent comprises a wearable device with a total of eight unfolding displays, all of them measuring 2×3 inches. In its standard smartwatch, you will only see one of those displays, with the rest stored on the inside of the device.

Adding three more displays gives a 4-inch wide and 6-inch tall screen comprised of four parts. There is also a new interface to go along with the smartphone sized display. Things get particularly interesting when the remaining four displays are added to put the watch in tablet mode. With everything tallied up, you get an 8×12 inch tablet on your wrist with a new interface to go with it.

As interesting and other worldly as this idea might sound, there is a lot of mystery regarding the working of the device in the real world. While the patent goes into a fair depth, it does not state how the foldable displays will unfold.

It is important to note that patents do not always materialize into products. However, with several Tech companies like Samsung and Huawei gravitating towards foldable devices, it won’t be long before people start wearing watches that transform into tablets on a whim.