Motorola doesn’t just want to make phone screens that are shatter-resistant… but if it has its way, what cracks that do show up could be fixed on the spot. The company recently applied for a patent on a phone screen whose shape memory polymer heals damage when you subject it to rapid changes in heat. The phone itself could produce the heat (Motorola even envisions an app that tells the phone where to start repairs), but your body heat, a dock or a plug-in panel might also work.
This seems like a dream for anyone who’s ever smashed a phone screen. However, there are bound to be a few caveats. First, of course, is that this is a patent application — there’s no guarantee that Motorola or parent company Lenovo has something in the cards. We need to wait and see what is this all about.
