Cellphones.
The initial race was to make them as compact as possible, but with smartphones, bigger screens were all the rage.
Local researchers are looking ahead, as they developed a technology that allows screens to be folded easily and in a way that doesn't affect display quality.
Kim Ji-yeon gives us a glimpse of what's to come.
How could smartphones look in the future?
Perhaps the screen could curl as if made out of paper... making it lighter and easier to carry.
That future may be closer than we think.
A local research group says it has developed a core technology that could make displays fold easily... by using transparent rubber that has a web of electrodes on the areas that fold.
That way the display quality would remain the same when folded, and it would not leave a scratch when unfolded again.


"We've placed the electrodes at the bridges connecting the displays so it could increase the elasticity of the folding screens."

The expert adds the technology could also help developers to create large displays by connecting smaller screens... without producing blind spots that typically affect larger displays.
He says the tech could also be useful in the development of wearable devices.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.