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A UK-based Kickstarter project is hoping to raise funds for a new kind of screen protector — an “impact resistant” screen protector called the Rhino Shield that rivals Gorilla Glass, the existing sheet glass that you see in most devices today. The difference, however, is that Rhino Shield is a screen protector that can be used on top of any screen, even Gorilla Glass. So it is added protection, not replacement protection.
Eric Wang, who is founder of Evolutive Labs and designer of Rhino Shield, came up with the idea after his friends asked him about preventing shattered glass in their phones and tablets. Wang is a Ph.D. candidate in material science and engineering at the University of Cambridge, so he was actually the perfect guy to ask.
Wang says that the idea behind the protector is a simple physics equation: pressure is equal to force divided by area. As you can see in the image above, the Rhino Shield is composed of a multitude of layers. The impact dispersion and impact damping layers work together in reducing the amount of force per area. Check out their Kickstarter video below for some dropping tests versus Gorilla Glass! Spoiler alert: Rhino Shield + Gorilla Glass wins over just Gorilla Glass.
As of posting time, the Rhino Shield has £16,943 pledged of its £50,000 goal, with 21 days remaining. If you like this idea, head on over to the Kickstarter page at the link below and support it!
[via Kickstarter, Mashable]
