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When you picture the evolution of TVs and other electronic displays, it’s hard not to be in awe at just how far they’ve come, getting thinner, more lightweight and portable than ever, with higher definition and brightness to the point that real-life basically looks pretty dull in comparison. But they’ve never really been able to shake that same boring shape: a flat rectangle.

So when Sharp announced it had developed a “Free-Form Display” that could be manufactured in virtually any shape, a lot of people more technically oriented than I am – and thus able to more easily imagine the many uses of a display shaped like a shoe or something – instantly proclaimed it a game-changer.

And when Sharp boasted about the technology, among those companies listening was Nintendo, who promptly snapped up a license for the tech and became the first company to officially announce it would use it for a future product.

There’s a catch, though: said product may or may not be related to video games.

It could be used as the basis for the screen of the next generation of Nintendo handheld consoles. Imagine showing off your radical Batarang-shaped 3DS to your friends, or gaming on-the-go with a screen that actually curves around to encompass everything in your vision.

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“Or,” apparently says Nintendo, “maybe you’d be more interested in an oddly shaped bedside sleep monitor?”

Cue cricket chirp from the gamer delegation.

It’s true that Nintendo – a company no one could ever accuse of failing to think outside the box – apparently had a corporate management policy briefing in October that outlined a new focus on “improving people’s lives,” which includes branching out into the likes of electronic health monitors and the like.

The QOL Sensor (the official name of the aforementioned sleep monitor) has already been announced for 2015, so Sharp’s technology will possibly debut there first, but there’s no reason to think Nintendo isn’t double-dipping and planning to also use the Free-Form Displays for the new 3DS or some other future handheld.

Fingers crossed, right?

Source: My Game News Flash
Photos: Sharp Press Release, Nintendo Press Release