Cobra Promises Flexible Mobile Gaming

Not the hated enemy of G.I. Joe, mind you

A bunch of Canadian dudes are developing Cobra, a mobile system that relies on a flexible display and a shoulder-mounted pico projector. Users can control what appears on the flex display by twisting, tapping or even shaking it. The whole point is to provide workstation-like capability through an extremely portable form factor.

The display, traditionally the least malleable component of any system, can be rolled up or folded into a more manageable size. Integrated flex sensors translate the user's actions into signals understandable by the software, while the image is projected onto the flex display from the shoulder projector.

The developers (of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada) claim that Cobra will be perfect for interactive gaming. But they also think Cobra would do well in productivity- and entertainment-oriented applications, such 3D object manipulation, audio editing, and movie watching.

But will Cobra be easy to use? Won't having to hold up the flex sheet all the time prove tiring for users, especially when they're supposed to use their hands for interface manipulation? And will user actions based on manipulating what's basically a sheet prove, well, usable? Cobra developers seem to be pushing for a retail debut, so there's no choice but to wait and see.

Cobra (PDF)