The first Project Ara smartphone is not expected to launch until January 2015 but developers are already busy dreaming up various modules for the modular handset. Along with the more mundane modules such as better processors and cameras, larger batteries and greater storage, other modules hold the promise of far more specialized functions. For example, the Project Ara MDK has already proposed modules such as a pulse oximeter and a thermal imager. For his part, designer Samuel Herb, better known as The Aether Technician, came up with a dual analog gaming controller module called the Flippypad.
I give you Flippypad! A hinged controller that turns the phone into a neat little clamshell gaming device. It has an L and R button, a D’Pad, two flat joysticks (similar to the one found on the 3DS) and the familiar ABXY diamond. It’s probably large enough to house a good amount of extra battery too.
The Flippypad controller would slot into one of the module bays on the back of the device and turn the device into a clamshell gaming platform similar to a Nintendo 3DS or Sony PS Vita.
Herb admits that the concept is no more than wishful thinking at this point, particularly as it does not follow the MDK guidelines that specify the size of modules. But it is early days for Project Ara and “maybe it’ll find it’s way to the right people, and I can start developing it for real.”
If nothing else, it does once again give a tantalizing sense of the potential behind Project Ara.
Source : Tumblr