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Louis Vuitton and Royole put two web browsers on a handbag

Louis Vuitton and Royole put two web browsers on a handbag

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Foldable smartphones, rollup TVs, and now a handbag

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Of all the companies to embrace flexible displays in 2019, we didn’t think the fashion brand Louis Vuitton would be among them. Yet, that’s exactly what it’s done with its new lineup of handbags featuring 1920 x 1440 resolution flexible AMOLED displays from Royole. Engadget reports that LV plans to produce two variations of the so-called Canvas of the Future handbags, one with a single display on each side, and the other with two.

On the runway at Cruise 2020, the screens were set to show an array of colorful urban visualizations, but in a video posted to Instagram one of the bags could also be seen showing a pair of scrolling web browsers. Louis Vitton says that the idea for the handbag is for it to become an extension of the smartphone, which suggests there’s more functionality here than meets the eye.

The handbags were produced using screens provided by Royole, whose FlexPai device is technically the first foldable smartphone in the world. If you haven’t heard of the FlexPai then we don’t blame you; when Vlad Savov tried it out at this year’s CES he declared that it was “charmingly awful” thanks to its buggy user experience and relatively poor quality.

Royole had a purse prototype of its own at CES 2019.
Royole had a purse prototype of its own at CES 2019.
Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a company put a display on a bag, and even Royole had a prototype purse of its own at this year’s CES. However, Louis Vuitton has the advantage of being able to sell its bags at a price that could actually cover the cost of a cutting edge display.