Amazon Founder Patents An Airbag For Phones

Could this be the end of cracked glass screens? The device's motion sensors detect a fall and trigger impact protection.

Emma Hutchings Emma Hutchings on December 18, 2012.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has filed a patent application for a system that protects devices from impact damage. This method utilizes a smartphone’s motion sensors to detect when it has been dropped, and then deploys mini-airbags that can cushion the fall and prevent damage like a cracked screen. The protective system could also be useful for e-readers, tablets, and cameras. The patent reads:

Prior to impact between a surface and a device, a determination of a risk of damage to the device is made. If the risk of damage to the device exceeds a threshold, a protection system is activated to reduce or eliminate damage to the device.

Amazon Patents An Airbag For Phones

The Telegraph reports that data from a phone’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers would be used to sense a fall. This would then trigger the release of the airbags and air-jets could also be used to change the device’s trajectory in mid-air.

phone air bag

Patent application

Photo by Matt Kowal

Image via Daily Mail