Remember all those science fiction movies that predicted the future with uncanny accuracy—with objects from them actually springing up to populate our gizmo-studded world? Well, this one’s straight from sci-fi land, too. French designers Philippe Starck and Jerome Olivet have joined hands with electronics company Thomson to create a smartphone concept that looks not in the least like, well, a smartphone. This silver, streamlined glitzy gizmo almost gives off an almost magical vibe in its appearance, but its good looks aren’t the best thing yet. This smartphone is called Alo and it projects 3D holographic images of what you actually see on the screen—messages, images, movies everything. It is completely voice activated and has a translucent elongated “gelatinous” shape designed to easily fit in your hand. It can actually read out messages and allows users to just ‘dictate’ messages instead of typing them. It also allows you to project a 3D hologram to view a movie or message. The core of the curved device is made of aluminium alloy, surrounded by pliable casing that actually provides feedback through heat as well as vibration. And that’s not all—the device can repair its own skin automatically “as soon as it is damaged.” Now there’s a smartphone to make all others look dumb! The device is still in the concept stage, of course, but reports state that a prototype is in the making. We’re waiting with bated breath, that’s for sure.
