This week, the flexible screen being tested on mobile handsets at Queens University, how LG is trying to make its mobile phone stand out from the crowd, and the amazing adaptability of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot.

Canadian researchers show off bendy mobile screen

The Human Media Lab at Queens University is a cool place where researchers play with technology and media and the intersections between them.

Last month, they showed off ReFlex, a flexible smartphone that can be interacted with by bending it. So if you’re reading a book on the handset, for example, you can bend it to “flip” the pages.

The smartphone uses an organic light-emitting display (OLED) with sensors behind the screen that can detect the force someone used to bend it.

Roel Vertegaal, who directs the Lab, said that flexible mobile devices could be on the market in five years.

LG does something different with a mobile phone

The Android-based G5 smartphone from LG was revealed a couple of weeks ago at the annual Mobile World Congress tradeshow. And for the first time in years, there is something different that isn’t simply an upgraded processor or a more powerful camera. The G5 brings two new concepts to its handset: modular design and peripherals.

Two modular components were introduced in Barcelona. Both can easily be snapped in to the G5 case.

• The LG Gam Plus is a camera grip with a shutter button, zoom dial, and additional battery capacity
• The LG Hi-Fi Plus is an amplifier and digital audio converter designed in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen that will upsample any audio on the phone

The G5 was also designed to work with a whole range of peripherals the company is calling “Friends” that will be plug-and-play with the handset.

• The LG 360 Cam is a spherical camera that can record high-definition video
• The LG 360 VR headset is a lightweight virtual reality display that tethers to the G5 with a USB-C cable and can be folded when not in use
• The LG Rolling Bot is a mobile camera, shooting video and taking still photos while being controlled by the G5

Robots have come a long way, man

Less than a year ago I was laughing at the robot fails that occurred at the DARPA Robotics Challenge robotics challenge fails finals. I’m not laughing any longer.

Atlas, a project at Boston Dynamics, is physically adaptable in ways that wasn’t even possible a year ago.

And as everyone commented on social media last week, the guy with the hockey stick is going to be the first victim when the overlords ultimately reveal themselves.