The issue of carrying around mobile devices with large, brittle glass displays was solved when
Gorilla Glass came on the scene. But those shiny touchscreens are still prone to picking up the odd scratch while nestled in your pocket.
You can put a screen protector over the top to help prevent them, but
then if the protector gets damaged they need replacing. However,
Japanese company
Toray believes it has a solution in the form of a self-repairing film.
The film actually isn’t that new. Toray has been offering it as a
decorative solution for applying to laptop casing and other larger
devices. Until now it hasn’t been considered for actual screens, but
with a move to mass production and a few properties that make it
suitable, self-repairing touchscreen film is on its way to market.
At room temperature the film is capable of repairing minor scratches
in as little as 10 seconds. At the same time it is very flexible,
meaning it won’t crack or peel, and allows 90% of light to pass through
it making it suitable for placing over a bright display. As for how long
it lasts, Toray’s tests have shown no degradation in performance after
20,000 scratch repairs.
The film will be on display next week at the
Highly-functional Film Technology Expo
in Tokyo. Hopefully we’ll get to see video footage of a 10-second
scratch repair during the show as well as finding out just how much of
an impact the film has when attached to a smartphone or tablet.
Toray has another film in the works that solves a different problem
for touchscreens: that of fingerprints. By employing a surface that is
wrinkled at the nanometer level
and coated with oil-repellent material, the company has managed to
significantly reduce the marks fingers leave on a display. If only they
could combine the self-repair and fingerprint repellent films they’d
have device manufacturers and consumers falling over each other to place
orders.
