No more shattered glass! German student creates ‘mobile airbag’ that prevents screen damage in phones

A German student's creation may finally be the solution to prevent the agony of a shattered mobile screen.

Philip Frenzel, a student of Aalen University in Germany, has created a ‘mobile airbag’ which detects if the phone is in free fall and releases metal prongs to protect from the impending impact.

The design, spotted by Preview Online, won Frenzel an award from the German Mechatronics Society for outstanding work in the field of mechatronics.

Frenzel expects to launch the device on Kickstarter next month along with Peter Mayer, another student at the university.

The 25-year-old student created the device as part of his bachelor theses. He explained that the design uses sensors which detect the free fall of the cell phone and a metal spring unfolds during the fall which cushions the fall. The metal prongs then can be folded manually and reused.

If Frenzel and Mayer can bring the product to the market, either in current design or a better version of it, it will surely take the horror off the faces of people who see their phones falling down, expecting the worst. Moreover, it will save thousands of rupees which one would spend for repair or replacements of the phones.