6 visions for your future computer

Imagine an accordion of paper-thin pages that can transform into anything you want them to be, from a smartphone to a map to a detachable digital business card. Welcome to the world of "smart material," as imagined by Russian industrial designer Ilshat Garipov, CEO of design firm Mojorno.

The idea rests on the concept of a "futurematerial" using "smart" nanoparticles that can unite on a cardboard-like base material to create a CPU, microphones, speakers, displays or whatever else the user needs. The booklets could come in varied lengths and computing power, Mojorno says.

Garipov's mockup shows what some potential applications could look like on the device -- which, since it's made of a biodegradable material, you can just throw away when it's used up. Oh, and it's powered by the sun, or body heat, or... whatever else you can dream up.

While this kind of technology is nowhere close to reality (although Intel (INTC) is actively working on pieces of it), it wasn't too long ago that having a full-functioned computer in your pocket seemed like the stuff of science fiction.

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