Nissan May Offer Self-Healing iPhone Case

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - If you are an iPhone owner but find yourself picking it up off the floor more than off your nightstand, a new iPhone case from Nissan (as in the car maker), might be just what you’ve been waiting for.

The phone case, called the “Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone case,” uses a material that is described as “self-healing,” ubergizmo reported. 

Initially developed in 2005 by Nissan, the University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc. for the automaker’s carline, the polyrotaxane coating repairs, or heals itself, when becoming scratched.

“We're really excited about the possibilities provided by this technology. We’re passionate about innovations that get people excited, and that means not being restricted to one industry or genre,” Bob Laishley, Overseas Program Director Business Development for Nissan in Europe, told Daily Tech . 

Nissan used ABS plastic for the case and then coated it in a paint made with the polyrotaxane. ABS plastic is widely used in the auto industry.

The chemical structure of the polyrotaxane allows the material to mold back into the original shape and fill in the scratches.

Small scratches will “heal” in an hour, while more substantial damage may take up to a week to “heal,” Fox Business reported.

Nissan showed off the case at an auto show in Dubai this past weekend and passed them out to journalists and the automaker’s customers—beta testing.

If the trial goes well and a demand for a case like this presents itself, Nissan said that it will put the case into mass production for the general public.

Daily Tech reported that the case would then be available in late 2012. No word on price, however.