This crawling phone charger will haunt your nightmares
It's the invention nobody asked for.
It seems fair to say that 2020 has been a pretty strange year. So strange that when we heard that researchers have created a mobile phone case that can crawl towards its charger, our first reaction was: okay, sure. Then we saw the video. This thing is so horrifying, it feels like a metaphor for 2020 itself.
Robotics researchers from the Biorobotics Laboratory at Seoul National University have adapted one of their existing robot designs to turn it into a phone case with tiny legs that can move your phone across the table towards a wireless charger (for a less nightmarish charging solution, check out the best power banks). Take a look at the monstrosity below.
While disturbing, the tech is also pretty impressive. The case houses 6 tiny legs, each with its own "knee joint". According to IEEE Robotics, CaseCrawler weighs about 23g and can crawl at 21cm per second while carrying over 300g (more than 13 times its own body weight). At 24mm thick, it's chunkier than your average phone case, but then again, your average phone case doesn't have knees.
It seems CaseCrawler doesn't any kind of intelligence (thank goodness) – it will simply move in a straight line towards the charger. It can, however climb over small obstacles, so it's still more dangerous than your average dalek.
Thankfully, with the device only in concept stage, it's currently confined to the lab – and our nightmares. We're all for innovation (check out these Apple patents we wish would come true), just as long as it doesn't make our skin crawl. If you're looking for a phone that doesn't need to crawl to a charger every few minutes, we were seriously impressed with the battery life in our iPhone 11 Pro review. Check out the best deals below.
Read more:
- Billie Eilish promotes phone-positivity in new ad (but we're not convinced)
- Evian’s biting response to 'familiar' Coors Light rebrand is just too good
- The best laptops for graphic design in 2020
Get the Creative Bloq Newsletter
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.
Related articles
- I'd snap up the Apple AirPods Max at $399 (that's $150 off)
- "SpongeBob's world is inherently funny": How Outright Games turned Bikini Bottom into an explorable 3D world for PS5
- MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V review: Gamers and hybrid working creative professionals no longer need two laptops
- "Empathy is absolutely crucial for success": a day in the life of UX director Sam Drury