Video: This Bendable Remote Control Has No Buttons, Doesn’t Require Batteries

We’ve shown you the “Leaf Grip Remote Controller” a few weeks ago, but its maker, Japanese tech company Murata, decided to wait until the CEATEC 2011 exhibition to present it to the public. The device can theoretically be used for a number of applications, but Murata is pitching it first and foremost as a remote control for TV sets.

The Leaf Grip Remote Controller lets users change channels with a twisting motion while the volume can be adjusted by bending it. Shake the device, which doesn’t require batteries to work, to turn the TV on or off.

Murata explains:

This remote control is made using a special polyester piezoelectric film. The piezoelectric film detects unique motions like bending and twisting, and produces a voltage in response. This film is attached to both sides of a plate. The film on one side reacts to bending, and the film on the other side reacts to twisting. The films are transparent, so we’ve built in a photoelectric cell. The power from the cell is stored in a double-layer capacitor, and used to produce the signals that control the TV.

This video – in English – shows how the remote control works (video provided by Diginfo TV, Tokyo):