BACKGROUND

[0001] Technological solutions may be employed in national or multinational corporations or business engagements in order to improve communication between parties. These solutions may involve video, audio, and display device solutions, and may be employed such that business owners, vendors, contractors, and other stakeholders are able to more readily participate in business discussions and decisions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Various examples will be described below referring to the following figures:

[0003] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device.

[0004] FIGS. 2A-2E show example schematic configurations of hinged interactive device systems.

[0005] FIG. 3 depicts an example method of use of a hinged interactive device system.

[0006] FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate examples of use of the hinged interactive device system in various states.

[0007] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device system.

[0008] FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device system.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a partial schematic illustration of an example hinged interactive device system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] Office, home office, and conference rooms may have limited remote communication among and between users based upon limited technological capabilities. These remote interactions may comprise video conferences, audio conferences, and/or document sharing, and may involve limited capabilities with respect to what can be shared, sharing formats, and feedback from linked devices. In addition, they may experience latency issues with video and/or audio conferencing. These issues may present barriers towards the contributions and expressions of its users. For larger, flexible devices such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens, which contain light-emitting diodes (LED) that comprise thin, flexible sheets of organic electroluminescent material, a portion of the device that is the farthest from the user may not be used as an interactive surface by the user because this area may be out of reach of or inconvenient to reach for the user.

[0011] The examples disclosed herein provide solutions to these problems. As discussed with respect to various examples herein, a hinged interactive device is a flexible device comprising an interactive surface that may be adjusted from a first fixed position to a second fixed position in one or more locations and then may be returned to the first fixed position or adjusted to a different, third position. These adjustments may be performed manually or automatically, for example, in response to the loading of a profile or a trigger received by a sensor such as a motion, heat, pressure, or level sensor, and may be executed while maintaining its use as an interactive surface. For example, a hinged interactive device may be adjusted in a hinge region which enables the device to have two portions of the device positioned relative to each other. In one example, a first interactive surface portion is in a first position relative to a user, as is a second display portion, and the second display portion is flexed in a hinge region to adjust it to a second fixed position that is at a different angle relative to the user and to the first interactive surface portion. This range of motion relative to the first interactive surface portion may be from 0 to 90 degrees, or greater. When flexed at an angle such that it is no longer on a shared plane with the first interactive surface portion, the second display portion may still be used as an interactive surface, for example, if the user can reach it with or without the aid of a device. However, it may also be used as a display portion that may show content that is scanned by an embedded camera of the device or that is received by the device from another hinged interactive device or from a dissimilar remote device.

[0012] As discussed herein, an "interactive surface" comprises any substrate or combination of substrates capable of communicating with peripheral devices to display markings resulting from the communication between the surface and the peripheral device. This is in contrast to a conventional writing surface, such as paper, a whiteboard, or a blackboard, where the markings may be left by a peripheral device such as a marker or piece of chalk.

[0013] As discussed herein, an "interactive device" is a device comprising an interactive surface.

[0014] As discussed herein, a "hinged interactive device" comprises an interactive device with one or more hinge regions that enable the device to achieve and maintain a variety of degrees of flexion between regions of the device during use.

[0015] As discussed herein, a "hinged interactive device system" comprises one or more flexible interactive devices with one or more hinge regions that enable the device to achieve and maintain a plurality of fixed positions where there are a varying number of degrees of flexion between regions of the device during use.

[0016] As used herein, a "hinge region" comprises a region of a flexible interactive device about which a first portion of the interactive device may be adjusted relative to a second portion of an interactive device.

[0017] As used herein, the term "markings" may be used to collectively describe freehand-originated features such as text, drawings, stamps, images, and typeface text that may be imported from peripheral devices, as well as combinations thereof. Thus, a marking would include an image imported to an interactive surface that is then modified by, for example, freehanded writing to emphasize, modify, or deemphasize various features of the image.

[0018] As used herein, a "computing device" may be a device that is remote to a hinged interactive device system or may be a hinged interactive device of the hinged interactive device system, or may be a laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone, or wearable or implantable technology.

[0019] As used herein, a "remote" device is a device that is not a hinged interactive device but that is part of a hinged interactive device system such as a server, virtual server, laptop computer, desktop computer, tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile phone, or wearable or implantable technology. [0020] In some examples herein, two or more computing or peripheral devices may be referred to as "removably coupled" to each other when the devices are mechanically, electrically, and/or communicatively (able to transmit and/or receive data) coupled such that uncoupling the two or more devices does not render the devices unusable.

[0021] As used herein, a "continuous surface" is a surface that may be rigid, flexible, or semi-flexible and may contain various regions that are not externally coupled, in contrast to a laptop, which has physical hinges and other external structures connecting two or more portions.

[0022] In one example, a plurality of hinged interactive devices are mechanically and removably coupled to each other in groups of two or more, and one or more of the plurality of hinged interactive devices may be in communication with a remote server as well that is not a hinged interactive device. In this example, the remote server may transmit content to and receive content from hinged interactive devices, and the hinged interactive devices may each be associated with different levels of access to received content. In some examples, this access may be associated with a user of the device, and in other examples, the access may be based on the type of content, the content sender, a sending device identification, or a recipient device identification.

[0023] In some examples, a hinged interactive device may be removably coupled to an adjustable base. The removable coupling may be via magnets, clips, pegs, press-fitted features, spring-loaded features, or combinations thereof. When the hinged interactive device is mounted in a base, the base may enable multi-axis movement of the device. This movement may be, for example, to bring the device closer to a user, or to angle the device towards the user with or without flexing the device at the hinge region. In one example, the base may also comprise a plurality of pivot points such that a user may turn the device to face a direction at an angle other than parallel to the user during use. The hinged interactive devices discussed herein may have multiple modes, including an "OFF" mode when the device does not act as an interactive surface and instead acts as a passive surface. There may also be an "ON" mode, and the hinged interactive device may be configured in this mode as discussed below to wirelessly couple to a plurality of similar and different devices via WiFi, Bluetooth, near-field communication (NFC), radio-frequency identification (RFID), or other technologies or combinations of technologies. In addition, while in the ON mode, the device may be coupled to a plurality of peripheral devices and use those devices such as electronic pens to create markings or provide other inputs to the hinged interactive device.

[0024] In some examples, a user may log into a device or a system comprising a plurality of hinged interactive devices using gestures, biometrics, patterns, or other inputs as discussed herein. The user may be associated with a profile that may load various programs on to the device upon authentication such as calendars, notes programs, games, adjustment of the device with respect to the base and/or the user, and/or a predetermined flexion of the device in the hinge region. The hinged interactive device may communicate with peripheral devices such as electronic pens, jogs, charging devices, or other computing devices which may be used when communicatively and in some cases mechanically and/or electrically coupled to the hinged interactive device. In one example, a user who is authenticated on a first hinged interactive device may then be granted access to other hinged interactive devices and/or a remote server in order to transmit content to and receive content from those devices.

[0025] In an example of a hinged interactive device, the device comprises a device body with a continuous display surface, with the continuous display surface including a first interactive surface portion, a second display surface portion, and a hinge region disposed between the first interactive surface portion and the second display surface portion. In this example, the second display surface portion is rotatable about the hinge region to adjust an angle between the second display surface portion and the first interactive surface portion. Further in this example, a camera is embedded in the second display surface portion, and the hinged interactive devices comprise a processor and a non-transitory storage comprising executable code. In this example, the executable code, upon execution by the processor, is to cause the processor to wirelessly communicate with a computing device and the camera and the executable code, when executed by the processor, is to cause the processor to scan a document using the camera and to display the scanned document via the second display surface portion. Furthermore in this example, the executable code, when executed by the processor, is to cause the processor to capture a video via the camera and to wirelessly transmit the captured video to the computing device, and the interactive device comprises a plurality of embedded sensors which, when activated, are to receive pressure, temperature, biometric, audio, and motion inputs. Additionally in the example, the processor is to provide content to another device in response to a user gesture on the continuous display surface and toward the other device.

[0026] Another example of a hinged interactive device system comprises a plurality of interactive devices such that each interactive device comprises a device body with a continuous display surface that includes a first interactive surface portion and a second display surface portion. In this example, the device body is flexible such that the second interactive surface portion is movable to an incline angle relative to the first interactive surface portion, and each interactive device further comprises an embedded camera, and a processor to wirelessly communicate with the embedded camera, a computing device, and the other interactive devices of the plurality of interactive devices. In this example, the device body is to be co-planar with a base when in a first state and the device body is to move three-dimensionally relative to the base when in a second state. In this example, the processor is to transmit content to the computing device in response to a user performing a gesture on the continuous display surface and toward the computing device, and, further, the processor is to receive content from the computing device, display the content on the continuous display surface, receive a modification to the content, and apply the modification to the content. Furthermore in this example, the processor is to transmit the modified content to a different interactive device of the plurality of interactive devices, the processor is to receive the modification from a different device, and the processor and the different interactive device are to simultaneously display the content, and each processor of each interactive device of the plurality of interactive devices is to receive common content from the computing device. [0027] In an example, a method of using hinged wireless devices comprises receiving, by an interactive device, content from a remote device, and the interactive device comprises a device body with a continuous display surface that includes a first interactive surface portion and a second display surface portion. In this example, the interactive device is flexible such that second interactive display portion is movable to adjust an angle between the second interactive surface portion and the first interactive surface portion. In this example, the method further comprises displaying, on the second interactive surface portion and when the angle is greater than zero, the content received, transmitting, by the interactive device, the content to each of a plurality of other interactive devices. In this example, at least some of the plurality of other interactive devices are removably coupled to each other, and the method further comprises receiving, by the interactive device and subsequent to transmitting the content, a plurality of inputs from at least two of the plurality of other interactive devices, and modifying, by the interactive device, the content based on the received plurality of inputs. Further in this example, the method comprises, prior to receiving the content, receiving, by the interactive device, an authentication input from a sensor, and granting, by the interactive device and in response to receiving the authentication input, access to the interactive device. In this example, the sensor is selected from the group consisting of pressure sensors, temperature sensors, biometric sensors, audio sensors, and motion sensors. In this example, the method comprises scanning, by the interactive device and via a camera embedded in the interactive device, a document to form a scanned document, and transmitting the scanned document to the remote device and a different interactive device of the plurality of interactive devices, and the transmitting is in response to receiving, by the interactive device, a user gesture.

[0028] FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device ("interactive device") 100. The device 100 comprises a first dimension 134 measured from a first side 122 that is substantially parallel to a second side 124, and a second dimension 136 measured from a third side 126 to a fourth side 128. The interactive device comprises a first interactive surface portion 104 and a second display portion 102, as well as a hinge region 106 disposed between the first 104 and second 102 portions. The entire device 100, from the first side 122 to the second side 124 and from the third side 126 to the fourth side 128, is a flexible device such as a flexible OLED, and may thus be bent at various angles relative to a base plane and maintain the bent positions in a variety of directions at a variety of points and in a plurality of regions, depending upon the example.

[0029] The entire device 100, from the first side 122 to the second side 124 and from the third side 126 to the fourth side 128, comprises an interactive surface that may be in various states including ON, OFF, and SLEEP. When in the ON state, the device may be able to receive and transmit inputs and may be communicatively coupled to a plurality of other devices, in contrast to the OFF state where communications sent to the device may be queued. In a SLEEP state, the device 100 may be able to receive content from remote or local devices, receive updates (pushes) from remote or local devices to various applications and components and to transmit health and status (activity, usage) updates to other hinged interactive devices or a remote server and receive any resultant corrective actions. The device 100 may not, in the SLEEP state, be able to receive active inputs from a user.

[0030] As discussed herein, the hinge region 106 may be employed as a pivot point to enable easier viewing of displayed content. In some examples, an angled display may be employed to display applications and/or widgets, for example, a calendar, an email program, a messaging program, a weather program, or a notes/tasks program. The hinged interactive device 100 may be configured to download and execute applications from a remote server and/or from other hinged interactive devices that may or may not be removably coupled to each other. In one example, the first portion 104 comprises a height nun, the second portion 102 comprises a height h-102, and the hinge region 106 comprises a height η-ιοβ- In various examples, the heights of each of those regions may differ. The height h ₀ 2 may be greater than the height h ₀₄ , or the two heights may be substantially equivalent. In some examples, the height hi ₀ 6 may be smaller than illustrated, and the hinge region 106 may be located in various areas of the device 100 since it is a flexible device capable of changing among and between various flexed states and may, in some examples, have more than one hinge region 106. The hinge region 106 is part of the flexible display 100 and thus does not contain additional hardware or physical hinges but rather is flexible and capable of maintaining various flexed positions without additional internal or external support.

[0031] A camera 132 is embedded in the second portion 102 and may be located substantially centered across the length 134, as shown, or may be offset, depending upon the example. The camera 132 may be adjustable in one or more directions such that the camera comprises multiple modes. A first camera mode may comprise a video conference mode and a second camera mode may comprise a scan-and-display mode, where documents may be presented within a predetermined proximity of the camera 132 and be scanned and displayed in the second portion. In one example, the first portion 104 may be referred to as the first interactive surface portion 104 and the second portion 102 may be referred to as the second display portion 102, since content that is accessed, modified, or received by the device 100 may display this content in the second display portion 102. In some examples, content may alternatively or additionally be displayed on the first interactive surface portion 104.

[0032] The device 100 may comprise a plurality of coupling regions 1 14 located along the sides 126, 128, 124, and 122, as well as in the corners 130A, 130B, 130C, and 130D. Depending upon the example, these coupling regions 1 14 may be located in some or all of these locations, and may be employed to removably couple two or more hinged interactive devices together, as shown in FIGS. 2A-2E and discussed below, or to a base as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The coupling regions 1 14 may enable mechanical, electrical, communicative, and other forms of coupling as discussed herein. The device 100 may comprise a battery 1 18 that may be a rechargeable battery 1 18 that may be charged via a port 1 16 that is connected to an external power source. In some examples, each device 100 may be powered by the port 1 16, and, in other examples, a plurality of devices 100 are coupled together and may be powered via a single power port, as discussed in detail below. [0033] The device 100 may comprise a plurality of internal components, some or all of which may be electrically coupled to the battery 1 18. These internal components may comprise: a plurality of audio components 120, antennae 1 12, and a non-transitory memory 108 that stores a plurality of executable code that may be in the form of one or more applications 1 10 that may be executed by a processor 138. One or more of the port 1 16, battery 1 18, audio components 120, antennae 1 12, memory 108 (with application(s) 1 10) and the processor 138 may be housed within the device 100 and thus may be only partially visible, if at all, from outside of the device 100. Nevertheless, these components are depicted in FIG. 1 to describe at least some of the contents of the device 100.

[0034] FIGS. 2A-2E show example schematic configurations of hinged interactive device systems. In particular, FIGS. 2A-2E illustrate a top view of the systems 200A-200E, it is appreciated that various structural supports may be present on one or more of the devices discussed herein. FIGS. 2A-2E each illustrate four hinged interactive devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 that may be coupled via the coupling regions 1 14 in FIG. 1 in various combinations. In FIG. 2A, a first example system 200A comprises the first device 202 is coupled to the third device 206 and the second device 204 is coupled to the fourth device 208, and a central coupling region 210 is indicated to illustrate the coupling region which may comprise one or more coupling mechanisms including brackets, magnets, clips, pegs, or combinations thereof. The coupling of hinged interactive devices discussed herein is a removable coupling, and uncoupling one or more devices does not compromise the functionality of the removed device nor of the devices that remain coupled.

[0035] In this example, the second device 204 and the first device 200 may not be coupled to each other, and the third 206 and fourth 208 devices may not be coupled to each other. Thus, FIG. 2A may be described as an example of paired devices, wherein each device is physically coupled to at least one other device but may not be physically coupled via a coupling region 210 to another device. In this example system 200A, the devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 and 204 may be communicatively coupled to each other even the devices are not physically coupled to each other. When devices 202 and 206 are coupled, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16A to power both devices 202 and 206. Along similar lines, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16B to power both devices 204 and 208 when they are coupled as discussed in FIG. 2A. Thus, the coupling regions discussed herein in FIGS. 2A-2E including the region 210 in FIG. 2A may be not only a mechanical coupling but also an electrical coupling.

[0036] FIG. 2B illustrates a second example system 200B comprises the first device 202 coupled to the third device 206 and the second device 204 coupled to the fourth device 208. The central coupling region 210 is shown and, additionally, length-wise coupling regions 212 are illustrated. The coupling regions 212 illustrate where the first device 202 is coupled to the second device 204 and where the third device 206 is coupled to the fourth device 208. As discussed above, this coupling may be via various mechanisms that employ press-fit, spring-loaded, magnetic, sliding engagement, or other coupling mechanisms or combinations of mechanisms. Since all four of the devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 are coupled in FIG. 2B as discussed above, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16C to power all of these devices 202, 204, 206, and 208.

[0037] FIG. 2C illustrates a third example system 200C comprising the coupling regions 212 where the first device 202 is coupled to the second device 204 and where the third device 206 is coupled to the fourth device 208, and, additionally, shows a corner coupling region 214 where each device 202, 204, 206, and 208 may be coupled to two adjacent devices. For example, in the corner coupling region 214, the first device 202 may be coupled to the second 204 and third 206 devices, the second device 204 may be coupled to the first device 202 and the fourth device 208, and the fourth device 208 may be coupled to the second 204 and third 206 devices to form the corner coupling region 214 from, for example, the coupling mechanisms 1 14 illustrated in the corners 130A-130D in FIG. 1 . Since all four of the devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 are coupled in FIG. 2C as discussed above at least at the corner coupling region 214, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16D to power all of these devices 202, 204, 206, and 208. [0038] FIG. 2D illustrates the devices 202, 204, 206, 208 coupled using solely the corner coupling region 214. Since all four of the devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 are coupled in FIG. 2D as discussed above at least at the corner coupling region 214, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16E to power (including charging the batteries of) all of these devices 202, 204, 206, and 208.

[0039] FIG. 2E shows the use of the corner coupling region 214 in conjunction with the central coupling region 210. Since all four of the devices 202, 204, 206, and 208 are coupled in FIG. 2E as discussed above at least at the corner coupling region 214, a power cord (not shown) may be coupled to a single power port 1 16F to power all of these devices 202, 204, 206, and 208.

[0040] FIG. 3 is an example method for using a hinged interactive device system. In the method 300 at block 302, a hinged interactive device such as the device 100 in FIG. 1 receives an authentication input. This authentication input may be received by the interactive device via a sensor as discussed in FIG. 1 . The sensor may be selected from the group consisting of pressure sensors, temperature sensors, biometric sensors, audio sensors, and motion sensors, so the authentication input may comprise a biometric input, gesture, audio input, patterned pressure input(s), identification number or name, and/or a password. In some examples, the authentication input received at block 302 may comprise a multi-step authentication of multiple authentication inputs.

[0041] At block 304, in response to receiving the authentication input at block 302, access is granted to the interactive device and/or to the interactive device system. In an example of when access to the interactive device system, which may comprise one or more interactive devices and a remote server, the authentication input received at block 302 may be from a user with administrative rights. Once access is granted, a plurality of content may be scanned at block 306 via an embedded camera of the interactive device, a video conference may be initiated via the embedded camera at block 332, and/or the interactive device may receive a plurality of content at block 308. The plurality of content received at block 308 by the interactive device may be received from another interactive device in the system or from a computing device that is remote and that may be communicatively coupled but not physically or electrically coupled to one or more of a plurality of interactive devices of the system.

[0042] In an example in the method 300, at block 312, the interactive device may have a first interactive surface portion moved relative to a second display portion via a hinge region, as discussed in FIG. 1 . This flexing of the interactive device into a second state at block 312 may be done before or after receiving the content at block 308. The movement at block 312 may put the device into the second state from a first state, where a first angle of the second display portion relative to the first interactive surface portion is greater than a second angle of the second display portion relative to the first interactive surface portion in the second state. At block 310, the content received at block 308 may be displayed on the second display portion before or after the movement at block 312. In some examples, the movement at block 312 may additionally or alternatively comprise moving the interactive device relative to a position of a user as shown in at least FIG. 4C. In other examples, the movement at block 312 may additionally or alternatively comprise moving the interactive device (e.g., in multiple directions) relative to a stationary desk to which the interactive device is coupled, as discussed in detail in FIG. 6.

[0043] In one example, at block 314, the interactive device receives a plurality of modifications to the displayed content and executes the modifications. At block 316, subsequent to or in absence of modifications at block 314, the interactive device receives an input via a sensor that may or may not be the same as the sensor or sensors used in the authentication at block 302. This input causes the interactive device to transmit the content at block 318 to a different interactive device of the plurality of interactive devices of the hinged interactive device system, or to a remote server such as the remote server that transmitted the content received at block 308 by the interactive device. In one example, a gesture input is received at block 316 to trigger the transmission of content at block 318. The gesture may, for example, be in the direction of an intended recipient device. The content may be modified at block 314 and/or transmitted at block 318 while the camera is in use at either of blocks 306 and 332. In one example, the subject content that may be modified at block 314 and/or transmitted at block 318 may be received at block 308 from an embedded camera via either scanning or video recording functionalities of the embedded camera, such as the camera 132 in FIG. 1 .

[0044] At block 322, in an example where the content is transmitted at block 318 to one or more different interactive devices that are part of a hinged interactive device system, the recipient device or devices may display the received content at block 322. Similarly to block 312, the recipient device or devices may be moved at block 320 relative to the user or to a host desk, or portions of the flexible device may be moved with respect to each other. The movements discussed herein at blocks 312 and 320 may be in response to (1 ) manual adjustment; (2) automated adjustment; (3) the authentication input received at block 302 which may be associated with a user and/or a plurality of rules for position(s) of the second display portion, the interactive device, or a base to which the interactive device is removably coupled. In one example, at block 324, one or more recipient devices may modify the content and, at block 326, the modified content may be transmitted to another interactive device of the system, to a remote server, and/or back to the sending interactive device which may subsequently display the modified content at block 332.

[0045] In another example, a recipient device may transmit inputs associated with the content at block 328 to the sending interactive device that transmitted the content at block 318. These inputs may be received by the sending interactive device which may modify the content at block 330. In some examples, a plurality of rules may be applied by the sending interactive device to determine if the inputs are to be implemented as modifications at block 330, and to parse out non-modification inputs such as questions and comments. The modified content may be displayed by the sending device at block 332, and, in some cases, may additionally be transmitted to one or more devices that received the content transmission at block 318. In some examples, a single interactive device may transmit content at block 318 to a plurality of other interactive devices of the system and those devices may transmit inputs at block 328 instead of executing modifications at block 324. This may be because, for example, the content transmitted has read-only access and not write-access, or because the interactive device was proposing modifications to the content and, in some examples, illustrating those modifications which were mirrored on the displayed content at block 322. In some examples, the content transmitted at block 318 may comprise view-access (e.g., the access to view information but not to modify the viewed information or upload/download viewed or other information) to the interactive device that is proposing modifications.

[0046] FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate examples of use of the hinged interactive device in various states. FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a user 400A and a hinged interactive device 410 comprising a first interactive surface portion 104 and a second display portion 102 which are at an angle respective to each other at a hinge region 106. The user 400A may engage a peripheral device 406 with the second display portion 102 while alternately viewing the second display portion 102 and the first interactive surface portion 104, as indicated by numeral 404. In the example in FIG. 4A, the second display portion 102 is an interactive surface as well and is thus configured to communicate with the peripheral device 406.

[0047] FIG. 4B illustrates an example of a user 400B and a hinged interactive device 412 comprising a first interactive surface portion 104 and a second display portion 102 which are at an angle 408 respective to each other at a hinge region 106. This angle 408 may be, in any or all examples herein, from about 90 degrees to about 180 degrees, depending upon the example. Also illustrated in FIG. 4B is the peripheral device 406 which is communicatively engaged with the first interactive surface portion 104. While a peripheral device 406 is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B as an elongated device such at an e-pen or stylus, in other examples, additional peripheral devices such as jogs, gaming devices, and graphic design devices or other peripheral devices may be employed and communicatively coupled to the hinged interactive device 412.

[0048] FIG. 4C illustrates an example of a user 400C and a hinged interactive device comprising a first interactive surface portion 104 and a second display portion 102 which are at an angle 408 respective to each other at a hinge region 106. This angle 408 may be, in any or all examples herein, from about 90 degrees to about 180 degrees, depending upon the example. In FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4D, each respective user is seated, in contrast to the user 400C in FIG. 4C, who is standing. FIG. 4C illustrates that the hinged device 414 may not only be at an angle 408 as discussed in FIG. 4B, but may also comprise one or more directional support structures 416, 418 that may be manually or automatically adjusted, for example, based on sensors embedded in the device 414 and/or based on a profile of the user 400C.

[0049] FIGS. 4C and 4D are discussed with respect to a shared coordinate system 428 illustrated in each of FIG. 4C and 4D. The coordinate system 428 may be defined by a first axis 424 which is perpendicular to a second axis 422, and a third axis 426, which extends into the page at about 90 degrees and is perpendicular to both 422 and 424. The device 414 may thus be automatically adjusted via the one or more directional structures 416, 418 in any or all of the directions illustrated by the coordinate system 428. The one or more directional structures 416, 418 may comprise various mechanisms including a series of torqued hinges with arms that work in tandem, a plurality of kerf mechanisms with built-in friction resistance, and/or a motorized mechanism.

[0050] FIG. 4D illustrates an example of a user 400D and a hinged interactive device 430 comprising a first interactive surface portion 104 and a second display portion 102 which are at an angle 408 respective to each other at a hinge region 106. This angle 408 may be, in any or all examples herein, from about 90 degrees to about 180 degrees, depending upon the example. A camera 132 similar to the camera 132 discussed with respect to FIG. 1 may be embedded in the second display portion 102 of the device 430. The camera 132 creates an active zone 420, the scope of which depends at least in part on the angle 408. The active zone 420 is a region within which the camera is configured to receive information, this information may be in the form of images that are captured for video or still pictures, or in the form of documents or other objects which are scanned by the camera 132 to generate an image on the second display portion 102. In some examples, the active zone 420 encompasses the user 400D's position, including the user's head. In some examples, the active zone 420 includes the first interactive surface portion 104. Thus, depending on the angle 408, the camera 132 may be employed for video conferencing, photographic capabilities, and/or document scanning (i.e., when documents are placed in a region included in the active zone 420).

[0051] FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device system 500. FIG. 5 illustrates a hinged interactive device 502 coupled to a base (not shown here but shown in FIG. 6) that is coupled to a desk 504. A peripheral monitor 506 may be in contact with the hinged interactive device 502 to display content simultaneously with or as an alternative to the display of content on the hinged interactive device 502. In this example, and as shown in FIG. 6, the device 502 may be moved relative to the desk 504 and to a user along a first axis 508, a second axis 510, a third axis 512, or rotationally in either direction 516 and 514 about the first axis 508. This movability and adjustability may be based on the use of the directional support structures 416 and 418 shown in FIG. 4C. In other examples, the device 502 may pivot in either direction about the second axis 510 and the third axis 512. During these movements about and/or along the axes 508, 510, and 512, the device 502 may be in a first state where it is at about a 180 degree angle relative to the base, and in other examples, as discussed above, the device 502 may be bent in one or more hinge regions. Stated another way, the device 502 may be adjusted relative to itself as well as relative to a user and to the desk 504.

[0052] FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example hinged interactive device system 600. In this example, and referring to elements discussed in at least FIGS. 1 , 4C, and 5 above, the system 600 comprises a hinged interactive device 502 removably coupled to a base 606 of the desk 504 via a one or more directional support structure illustrated by 416 (and as illustrated by 416 and 418 in FIG. 4C). This directional support structure 416 enable movement of the device 502 relative to the base 606 and desk 504, which may be configured along at least one shared plane. The arrows 602 indicate example directions in which the second display portion 102 may be flexed, and the arrows 604 illustrate an example motion of the first interactive surface portion 104 of the device 502 relative to the base 606 and/or desk 504. [0053] The support structure 416 is illustrated in FIG. 6 as extending from the device 502 to the base 606. In some examples, one or more of a support structure 608 may be employed in addition to or instead of 416. The second support structure 608 may extend from the device 502 to the desk 504 and may not be directly coupled to the base 606. The support structures 416 and 608 are illustrative and may take various forms to enable the multi-axis movement of the device 502 as well as the portions (102, 104) of the device 502. The one or more directional structures 416, 608 may comprise various mechanisms including a series of torqued hinges with arms that work in tandem, a plurality of kerf mechanisms with built-in friction resistance, and/or a motorized mechanism.

[0054] As discussed herein, the flexing in the hinge region 106 as well as the motion of the device 502 while removably coupled to the base 606 may be performed manually, automatically in response to detection of a user, or automatically in response to a user's profile being loaded onto the system 600. This automatic movement/adjustment may occur when a user profile is loaded that causes the flexing in the hinge region 106 and/or motion of the device 502 in one or more directions such that a predetermined orientation and position is achieved that is associated with the user profile that is loaded on to the system 600. In some examples, the device 502 may be uncoupled from the base 606 and the one or more directional support structure 416. Regardless of whether the device 502 is coupled or uncoupled to the base 606, it may maintain communication with other hinged, interactive devices of the system 600 as well as the monitor 506 shown in FIG. 5.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a partial schematic illustration of an example hinged interactive device system 700. The system 700 comprises a hinged interactive device 702 that may be similar to, for example, the device 100 in FIG. 1 . The device 702 may comprise components similar to those of the device 100 in FIG. 1 , including a non-transitory memory 108 and an application 1 10 stored in the memory 108 that contains code and is executable by a processor 138. The device 702 may be one of a plurality of hinged interactive devices 704, each of which may be similar to the device 100 in FIG. 1 , or the device 702 may be employed as a parent device that is communicatively coupled via a network 708 to the plurality of hinged interactive devices 704.

[0056] The hinged interactive device 702 may be referred to as a "parent device" because of a plurality of access rights associated with the device 702 regardless of which user may be logged in to the device 702. For example, a parent device may be configured to transmit information to multiple other hinged interactive devices and remote devices simultaneously, and to receive feedback and/or content from these devices that may not be configured to talk to each other nor to remote devices. In an example where the device 702 is not the parent device of the system 700 and is one of the plurality of hinged interactive devices 704 as indicated by 710, a user may be able to log on to any device 702 or 704 and access the same rights (e.g., content and other devices). In various examples, the device 702 and/or some or all of the plurality of devices 704 may be located in the same room, the same building, or remotely (e.g., in different buildings, cities, states, counties, nations, etc.).

[0057] In one example, the device 702, and in some examples some or all of the plurality of devices 704, may be communicatively coupled via the network 708 to a remote device 706 that is not a hinged interactive device such as 702, 704, or others as discussed herein. Rather, the remote device 706 may comprise a server or other type of device that is able to transmit content to and receive content from the hinged interactive devices 702 and 704 in the system 700. In various examples, the communicative coupling between hinged interactive devices 702, 704 and the remote device 706 may be via the network 708 which may be a public or private network. There may be further communication capabilities enabled among and between the hinged interactive devices 702, 704 and the remote device 706 via technologies including Bluetooth, RFID, and NFC. The hinged interactive devices 702, 704 may be in communication with at least one data store 712 such that content from the data store 712 may be transmitted to and/or received from one or more of the hinged interactive devices 702, 704. [0058] In another example, the remote device 706 is in communication with a data store 714 from which content may be transmitted to the hinged interactive devices 702, 704 and to which content received from the devices 702, 704 may be stored. While flexible interactive devices with hinge regions are discussed herein, as is the coupling of hinged interactive devices to a base of a desk, the communication among and between hinged interactive devices 702, 704 and/or a remote device 706 may not be predicated on the physical arrangement of the devices 702, 704 nor on the position of those devices relative to a user. Stated another way, bending a hinged interactive device to a fixed position or moving a hinged interactive device that may or may not be removably coupled to a base, or removing it from the base, may not negatively impact the wireless communication among and between 702, 704, and 706.

[0059] The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles and various examples of the present disclosure. Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.