The engineers have shown a real prototype of the modular smartphone. Video

Innovative device consists of several parts.

A team of experts from three universities of Canada have developed a prototype of triple smartphone, the main module which controls access to applications on the two peripheral devices and monitors what is happening on their screens.

Two additional mobile — one of medium size, the other quite tiny — are stored in a special case. If you need to borrow a child, a friend or even a passer-by, enough to get him out of the groove and indicate on the screen of the main unit, access to which apps and functions you provide additional module. There are 4 modes: “loan application”, “guest” (several applications), “full access” and “screen sharing”. The data exchange between the phones is the choice of modes is due to the technology of wireless data transmission NFC (“near field communication”).

Little phone fewer options: with it you can make calls or observe what is happening on the main module, if you decide to borrow it, and less to keep.

Housing design triple smartphone printed on a 3D printer, pretty ugly — a large angular gray box that barely fit in your pocket or purse. However, the project leader, Teddy Seyed from the University of calgary believes that parents will quickly appreciate the opportunity to share with the child by phone, while maintaining the ability to control over apps. Other variant of application — multiplayer mobile video games.

Seyed believes that his invention develops the same idea, which led the developers of this model Motorola Moto Z or Essential with magnets to attach accessories. And hopes to create a phone that will look like a combination of the main unit with a thin, similar to the display gadgets.

Modular phones have not gained popularity despite several attempts. The most ambitious was a project Google Project Ara, faced with the task of creating the removable blocks for different tasks modules for batteries, cameras and all that can come to mind to the developers. But the project was canceled in 2016, not even releasing the prototype.

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