A future Samsung Galaxy Watch could feature a built-in projector, if a freshly revealed patent is anything to go by.
As spotted by Wareable, the South Korean tech giant filed a patent application for a so-called “Wearable electronic device including projection display” earlier this month.
An illustration reveals how a tiny projector would be stationed in the side of a generic-looking future descendent of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, and would then project information onto the back of your hand.
This might simply mirror the information from the main screen, or could display different information altogether. Whatever the case, the main point here is that the watch would project a “display area larger than the display area of a display module on a part of the body wearing a wearable”.
With a larger display area in place, such a smartwatch would be a more natural means for viewing photo and video content.
The projector itself would feature two rows of LEDs and lenses, both configured in an arc. Thanks to this arrangement, the picture will be able to display at a range of angles, correcting for an uneven projection surface. It should result in a super sharp picture beamed onto the back of your hand.
The projecting LEDs could tilt clockwise or anti-clockwise, or adjust their brightness individually to achieve a stable image, regardless of the position of your wrist.
As always with such patent applications, they don’t mean that a final product is guaranteed. However, we could certainly get onboard with the concept of a projecting smartwatch if the implementation is sufficiently sophisticated, and on the provision that it doesn’t hit battery life too hard.
You might like…
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.