Apple and Samsung have filed for patents for a transparent smartphone display.
According to Patently Apple, both companies have been working on the technology for years and are still filing for new patents as the technology evolves.
Samsung, was granted a design patent this week on a smartphone featuring a transparent display.
The patent shows a rounded smartphone design with a transparent screen.
There is also a “rear bottom perspective view” in the device.
But Samsung did not describe, how that feature might work in the real world.
The Samsung patent also describes a cover of sorts that will fold around the screen to keep the display protected.
The cover will also work as a stand to prop up the handset when it’s not in use.
Meanwhile, Apple has been filing for a rash of patents that have slightly different designs.
While Samsung’s option has a transparent screen that nearly covers the handset’s face, the iPhone would have what amounts to a window that features a transparent design.
The company also filed a patent that describes how a transparent screen could be used in a MacBook or iMac.
And that, too, according to Patently Apple, features only a transparent window instead of a full-fledged transparent display.
According to Patently Apple, the patents also hint at augmented reality features that would allow you to look through your display to see a physical object on the other side.
The idea aims to enhance the augmented reality experience without needing to rely on a camera.
Credit: Patently Apple
