Under Your Skin

Mar 5, 2023

It can be hard to think of a world that does not contain an abundance of smartphones, let alone regular cell phones, but in spite of the fact that this is the case this technology is really only 50 years old at best. Even though they are a recent invention, cell phones have seen some dramatic changes in the decades in which they have been prevalent, going form bulky brick phones to smaller models all the way to the smartphones of the modern era. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the changes in smartphones are not exactly over. The person that invented the very first smartphone and used it to make a call, Martin Cooper, has some thoughts on what the future of smartphone form factors might end up looking like. For one thing, Cooper believes that the smartphones of the future won’t be handheld devices, rather they will be microscopic tech that is embedded under human skin. However, the reason behind why he feels like this will happen is less obvious than might have been the case otherwise. Rather than due to the supposed convenience of such an advancement, Cooper think this will happen because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up making charging far easier. The human body produces a decent amount of electrical charge, and if smartphones or calling devices are embedded into our bodies, they can use this natural bioelectricity to stay functional. More specifically, Cooper stated that these devices could be implanted inside of our ears. That would allow us to speak freely without having to hold anything in our hands. However, this way of perceiving phones might be a tad outdated. They’re not just used to make calls anymore, rather they serve a multitude of other functions that embedded tech just won’t be able t o measure up to with all things having been considered and taken into account. That makes such a modification somewhat less likely, at least in the short term. Read next: This Study Shows How Screen Time Might Increase Suicidal Thoughts Among Preteens At