Roudant said with advancements in mobile phone technology currently taking place, such as the flexible touch screen being trialled, it is only a matter of time before the shape shifting mobile phone come into existence. She said that as the touch screen took around 15 years to develop she believes phones that can change shape on demand could be available on the market in less than 15 years.

She also added that; “There are already touch screens that are forming little bumps for keyboards. It’s just a matter of time.” “We’ve come up with technologies we can use and we are going to come up with some really clear steps to achieve this in the future.”

The upcoming ‘screen resolution’ maintains privacy, where the screen flips up when a password is typed so that passers-by can’t see private information. For instance, the team’s concept of Morphees, self-actuated flexible mobile devices can change shape-on-demand to better fit the many services.

The team believes Morphees to be the next generation of mobile devices where users can download applications. In the near future, the team hopes to build higher shape resolution Morphees by researching on the flexibility of materials as well as explore other features like porosity and stretchability.

Subramanian is an alumni of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Read more: 10 Best And Free Online Games

Read more: 8 Technologies That Died Young