The Projector Cell Phone

[Category: Inventions. If you are new to my blog please read the “About itimes3” page first]

You probably know this from experience: you’ve got your cell phone (or mobile phone, depending on where in the world you live) beside your bed, and at some stage in the middle of the night it rings. Half asleep, you try to grab it, and after some stumbling in the dark to get hold of it, you activate the display (depending on model) and try to focus on that, squinting to see who is calling, trying to decide whether or not to answer.

Personally, I find this one of the most irritating features of my cell phone: the fact that I have to grope for it in the dark when it rings in the night (as it does with some frequency) in order to determine who is calling.

The solution to this would be a mini-projector built into the unit. Before going to bed, the user would position the cellphone with its “projector side” facing a nearby wall which is easy to see from the bed without effort.

Should the phone ring during the night, the projector would be activated and would project the name or number of the caller onto the wall at perhaps a 45-degree angle and a distance of between one and two meters (the projector probably being powered by bright LEDs rather than a traditional light source to reduce energy requirements). At the same time, voice activation and speakerphone would be available so the user can tell the phone whether to take the call and if yes, can have the conversation whilst staying in bed and not having to reach out and grab the phone and manipulate it.

The same projector could be used during the daytime to project onto objects closer to the projector in a daylight setting (say 5 to 20 centimeters away; not further as it would require too much power for the projector): the user could position it close to a white surface on a desk or table and thus see who is calling without having to look at the display on the phone.

As the projector would use extra battery power, it should be possible to activate/deactivate easily, ideally using a small switch on the side of the phone or similar.

An additional feature could be to have this function available from a docking station next to the bed, which the user would already have positioned facing the wall as required. The docking station would be connected to the power supply, and when the phone is placed in the docking station, it would be charged up, whilst at the same time projecting a clock (including the alarm time set) onto a nearby wall. Because the phone is on mains power, it could project the clock all night long, and should a call come in, switch to projecting the caller details onto the wall.

So: which is the first cell phone company that’s going to build this little feature into their products?

If you like this idea and you work in a type of industry where this is relevant, I would be happy to discuss in more detail, answer questions or assist in other ways. For details and contact information please see the “About itimes3” page.

George Spark

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