Forget a foldable screen on your smartphone. LG just unveiled the world’s first stretchable—yes, stretchable—screen

Able to elongate and twist, the new display measures 12 inches but can expand up to 50 per cent beyond its original size to 18 inches. And it does so all while maintaining its high-resolution picture of 100 pixels per inch and full colour. According to the tech brand, the bendy prototype can be safely stretched 10,000 times, even when exposed to extreme temperatures, without any distortion to its display.

Beyond the novelty of LG’s creation, the technology could have countless uses in various vocations. The stretchable display is not only thin and lightweight but it can also easily mold to irregularly shaped or curved surfaces. The company suggested two potential use cases: as an automotive panel operated by touch and as a wearable display included in a firefighter’s uniform that provides real-time information updates.

This incarnation of the stretch display comes four years after the South Korean government launched an initiative in partnership with LG to develop the technology. The success of the category is one of the major aims for next-generation displays set by South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, but despite the inter-organisational support, the process hasn’t been without its challenges. In 2022, an earlier attempt at a stretch display was able to expand by 20 per cent, less than half its current capability. It was only after improving the properties of a silicon material substrate used in contact lenses and developing a new wiring design structure that the current model was possible.

Though it’s only a start, the project has allowed LG to begin localising the necessary materials, components, and equipment that may one day help bring the technology to scale. That may be years off, but the prospect of a display that can be taken anywhere while making cracked screens a thing of the past seems like it won’t take long for the idea to catch on.

This story was first published on Robb Report USA. Featured photo by LG