Oneplus showed off its first concept phone at CES 2020 earlier this year. The OnePlus Concept One, made in partnership with McLaren, included an electrochromic glass (a color-shifting glass panel) to hide the camera when not in use. OnePlus has continued its experiments with electrochromic glass and the result is a new OnePlus 8T concept phone.

You can see a wavy pattern that covers the entirety of the rear panel. The pattern has been backed by a color-changing film that contains metal oxide, with the valence state of the metal ions varying based on the voltage. This means the pattern changes color from a dark blue shade to light silver when the metal oxide activates. It’s called ECMF (Electronic Color, Material & Finish) and even the OnePlus logo utilizes the same.

Now, you may have two questions – why did OnePlus choose a wavy pattern instead of simply converting the entire back panel into electrochromic glass? Well, OnePlus aims to amalgamate art and technology into its products. And the color-shifting back panel of the OnePlus 8T Concept Phone has been inspired by “the multi-hued flowing water in the hot springs of Pamukkale, Turkey.”

The second important question is – what’s the use of the electrochromic glass back? It would merely be a fancy color-changing pattern if not for the mmWave-based reactive sensing technology also present aboard the OnePlus 8T concept phone.

  • Breathing Monitor

The second use of this technology is rather unique. You can also turn this concept phone into a breathing monitor. Just stand behind the phone and the mmWave module will record your breathing. You can see the counter update on your screen in real-time, along with the color-changing back that serves as a biofeedback device. You can see how this works in the video below:

Breathing Monitor

OnePlus 8T Concept: Gimmicky or Innovative?

OnePlus 8T Concept has been developed by the new OnePlus Gaudí team, which was set up after the unveiling of the OnePlus Concept One. This team of 39 designers, who are based out of Shenzhen, Taipei, New York, and India, works towards bringing more natural and interactive elements to the design and software of OnePlus products.