Screen protector bubbles on your iPhone could be a thing of the past with Kawasaki's new r...

Posted:
in iPhone
Kawasaki this week showed off an industrial robot called "duAro" that can perfectly apply a screen protector to Apple's iPhone with no trapped air bubbles, accomplished in conjunction with Aldebaran and SoftBank's humanoid Pepper robot.




The duAro display was a part of this week's Pepper World in Tokyo, Kotaku noted on Thursday. In online video, the machine can be seen peeling film off the protectors before neatly applying them in a way that eliminates air bubbles.

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-- ????(? ∞?∞)? (@nodotan)


The duAro is equipped with twin arms which can work together while taking up minimal space. A linked Pepper unit can accept tasks and pass them along, Japan's ITmedia said.

Unlike many advanced robots, the Pepper is actually available to both businesses and the public. Its signature feature is the ability to react to the emotions in a person's voice and expression -- from there it can serve a variety of purposes, in part through its support for apps.

Conceivably, the duAro or some equivalent could make its way to Apple stores and make it easier to apply screen protectors. While the company already has some machines for the task, a duAro could automate the procedure, possibly even letting customers do it themselves.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    Is it really that difficult to apply a screen protector without bubbles? Maybe it's because I use glass and not plastic film, but I rather enjoy taking the care it requires to get it perfect. Worst case you're done in 5 minutes. Especially when you realize the robot won't clean your phone for you which is probably more
    important than the application itself. 
    edited February 2017
  • Reply 2 of 27
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Unless you're in a highly volatile industry where you also need a case that can survive major impacts, I don't get why people want to put some cover that negatively affects the both the look and feel of the device. And by look, I don't mean the aesthetics, but the actual usability of the screen by having light diffuse in a way that isn't as ideal as designed with the alkali-aluminosilicate sheet glass with an oleophobic coating.
    randominternetpersondewme
  • Reply 3 of 27
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Why not just not put a screen protector on? Problem solved! I've never used one on any of my iPhones and there are never any significant scratches in mine. There's a reason why Apple uses Gorilla Glass. 
  • Reply 4 of 27

    I hope this an example of the precision of the robot and not a real use case that's supposed to be compelling.

  • Reply 5 of 27
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I've a glass screen protector without any bubbles on my SE. It was reasonably easy to carefully install. Should have gotten one years ago.
  • Reply 6 of 27
    Uh, can you say "Gorilla Glass"?... have never used a protector on the past 3 iPhones.
  • Reply 7 of 27
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Is it really that difficult to apply a screen protector without bubbles? Maybe it's because I use glass and not plastic film, but I rather enjoy taking the care it requires to get it perfect. Worst case you're done in 5 minutes. Especially when you realize the robot won't clean your phone for you which is probably more
    important than the application itself. 
    Wait until a tiny piece of lint or dust sticks to the protector and you feel like you flushed your money down the toilet. 
    Soliwillcropoint
  • Reply 8 of 27
    jcs2305jcs2305 Posts: 1,336member
    macxpress said:
    Why not just not put a screen protector on? Problem solved! I've never used one on any of my iPhones and there are never any significant scratches in mine. There's a reason why Apple uses Gorilla Glass. 
    Scratches and fingerprints on the screen drive me crazy. I haven't used a case on any of my phones since iPhone 5, but I love the matte screen protector. Takes the glare away nicely and makes fingerprint cleaning a snap. Matte protector with my matte black 7 plus looks really good in my opinion. 
  • Reply 9 of 27
    Great. I bet it will be at least $25 and a three hour wait in the Apple Store.
  • Reply 10 of 27
    cali said:
    Is it really that difficult to apply a screen protector without bubbles? Maybe it's because I use glass and not plastic film, but I rather enjoy taking the care it requires to get it perfect. Worst case you're done in 5 minutes. Especially when you realize the robot won't clean your phone for you which is probably more
    important than the application itself. 
    Wait until a tiny piece of lint or dust sticks to the protector and you feel like you flushed your money down the toilet. 
    is this really an issue for you? Hard to believe you can't manage this project.
  • Reply 11 of 27
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Seems silly that Apple doesn't just apply a super high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory. Then if the buyer doesn't like it, they just take it off. Seriously, at the prices Apple sells its Phones, it's not like it would break the bank.
    dasanman69
  • Reply 12 of 27
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    jdw said:
    Seems silly that Apple doesn't just apply a super high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory. Then if the buyer doesn't like it, they just take it off. Seriously, at the prices Apple sells its Phones, it's not like it would break the bank.
    They do. It's made my Corning.
    Rayz2016dasanman69StrangeDayswatto_cobrafastasleep
  • Reply 13 of 27
    jdw said:
    Seems silly that Apple doesn't just apply a super high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory. Then if the buyer doesn't like it, they just take it off. Seriously, at the prices Apple sells its Phones, it's not like it would break the bank.
    People would just put a screen protector protector over it.
    SoliRayz2016GeorgeBMacStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 27
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Soli said:
    They do. It's made my Corning.
    Sarcasm is fine, but my point is valid and remains.

    The fact is that Gorilla Glass is still vulnerable to scratches, as I am sure an educated person such as yourself is aware.  And for that very reason many iPhone owners pay $15 to $30 to get a screen protector that doesn't always fit right and sometimes gets bubbles underneath.  If that were not true or very rare, then there would be no reason for AppleInsider to have published the original article.

    So again, Apple should apply a screen protector, and if a user doesn't like it, they need only remove it.  Easy.  Done.
  • Reply 15 of 27
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    jdw said:
    Soli said:
    They do. It's made my Corning.
    Sarcasm is fine, but my point is valid and remains.

    The fact is that Gorilla Glass is still vulnerable to scratches, as I am sure an educated person such as yourself is aware.  And for that very reason many iPhone owners pay $15 to $30 to get a screen protector that doesn't always fit right and sometimes gets bubbles underneath.  If that were not true or very rare, then there would be no reason for AppleInsider to have published the original article.

    So again, Apple should apply a screen protector, and if a user doesn't like it, they need only remove it.  Easy.  Done.
    "high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory"

    There's nothing reasonable about that request.
  • Reply 16 of 27
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Soli said:
    "high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory"
    There's nothing reasonable about that request.
    At Apple, "reasonable"  "right/easy/cheap/pleases certain AppleInsider forum posters."

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/07/apples-campus-2-repeatedly-delayed-by-emphasis-on-perfecting-small-details-profile-says

    But I assure you that Apple has achieved far more difficult tasks than a "tight-tolerance, nice-looking screen protector, perfectly affixed at the factory without air bubbles."
  • Reply 17 of 27
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    jdw said:
    Soli said:
    "high quality screen protector (with tight tolerances) at the factory"
    There's nothing reasonable about that request.
    At Apple, "reasonable" ≠ "right/easy/cheap/pleases certain AppleInsider forum posters."

    http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/02/07/apples-campus-2-repeatedly-delayed-by-emphasis-on-perfecting-small-details-profile-says

    But I assure you that Apple has achieved far more difficult tasks than a "tight-tolerance, nice-looking screen protector, perfectly affixed at the factory without air bubbles."
    This about what you're asking. Factory installed. Tight tolerances. Are you talking about another piece of soft plastic, like the one it comes with with no bubble that you then take off so you can install one? No, we're talking about something scratch resistance, so we're talking about another piece of coring glass. Oh, now we have cost, thickness, and something that you can't reapply yourself? Oh, you didn't say that? You want a piece of soft plastic, but not the one that it comes with, but a second one that will stay one when you peal off the first layer? OK, so now that soft plastic layer will get scratched up and you can't fucking take it off or reapply because you weirdly wanted something with tight tolerances yet malleable so it had to be built into the layer of perfectly good display material. If you do manage to take your device apart to remove that layer with a high quality installation with tight tolerance you can't reinstall yourself as the entire fucking premise of your bitching is that Apple should be able to do at the factory what you can't fucking do yourself. And all that is without realizing that you're just wasting your money, wasting your time, and getting a worse experience for thinking you need any of this.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 18 of 27
    jdw said:
    Soli said:
    They do. It's made my Corning.
    Sarcasm is fine, but my point is valid and remains.

    The fact is that Gorilla Glass is still vulnerable to scratches, as I am sure an educated person such as yourself is aware.  And for that very reason many iPhone owners pay $15 to $30 to get a screen protector that doesn't always fit right and sometimes gets bubbles underneath.  If that were not true or very rare, then there would be no reason for AppleInsider to have published the original article.

    So again, Apple should apply a screen protector, and if a user doesn't like it, they need only remove it.  Easy.  Done.
    Why stop there -- why don't they also slap a case onto the phone to "protect" the back from small abrasions common with normal use? Ok and how about a battery case, because who doesnt want more optional battery. Etc...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 27
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Soli said:
    This about what you're asking. Factory installed. Tight tolerances. Are you talking about another piece of soft plastic, like the one it comes with with no bubble that you then take off so you can install one? No, we're talking about something scratch resistance, so we're talking about another piece of coring glass...
    No.  YOU are talking about "another piece of glass" for reasons unknown.

    I have been talking about application of "a soft piece of transparent plastic," akin to what the article talks about.  

    Soft pieces of plastic should be applied at the factory, and if users don't like them, they can easily remove them.

    The End.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    jdw said:
    Soli said:
    This about what you're asking. Factory installed. Tight tolerances. Are you talking about another piece of soft plastic, like the one it comes with with no bubble that you then take off so you can install one? No, we're talking about something scratch resistance, so we're talking about another piece of coring glass...
    No.  YOU are talking about "another piece of glass" for reasons unknown.

    I have been talking about application of "a soft piece of transparent plastic," akin to what the article talks about.  

    Soft pieces of plastic should be applied at the factory, and if users don't like them, they can easily remove them.

    The End.
    I thought they already did.  Isn't the screen covered by a protective film and then removed by the consumer? 
    Soli
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