If I had a WTF category I’d place this one right there. Yes, airbags in phones. Undoubtedly you have dropped your phone before. Sometimes it’s a drop on a carpet and you’re saved. But other times it’s a hard drop right on concrete. If you had a case on it, you just saved your $300+ phone with a $10 case. But many of us like to have our phones “naked” and without a case.

When a phone is dropped you’ll either end up with some scuff marks on the side, scratches on the back or the worst result of all: a shattered screen. Well imagine if there was a way to protect your phone so it will never be damaged in a fall ever again. That, my friends, is the airbag in a cell phone.

The CEO of Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos, owns a patent on this not yet developed technology. In the patent it states that prior to impact, after a determination of a risk of damage is made, a protection system (namely, an air bag) would deploy to spare the phone from any damage.

So does this mean that it’s being actively developed? Most likely not. While it sounds intriguing, it would never work. Here’s a few reasons why.

Cost

How much would this cost? If it’s going to cost $100 more to add this system to a phone it’s just not worth it. Not many would pay $100 to protect a $300 device, that’s some costly insurance. Not only that but what do you do after it’s deployed? Do you have to buy and install another air bag?

Size

Smartphones need to be thin. Thick smartphones don’t sell as well as thinner smartphones. If you stuff a bag in it the phone would become too bulky and it would of course increase its weight.

False Alarms

How would the protection system be able to determine what is dangerous and what is not? Let’s say it detects a certain speed (speed of gravity) and direction (downward). What if you’re on a roller coaster. Will it deploy in your pants pocket? What if you’re tossing the phone to a friend or you’re throwing it on the bed? It’s just not feasible.

Maybe…

The only way I can see this invention ever becoming reality is if the actual skin of the phone could “puff up” as it’s falling and then deflate back into its original state. This would mean no real air bag. The trick is to create a material that can pop up, sort of like bubble wrap, all while keeping the phone stylish, thin and affordable. Will we see something like this in the future? Well, if we do, you heard it here first.