With all the focus on curved screens, folding screens, and multiple screens in mobile devices, one can easily overlook the advances that projection has made in the past few years. Lenovo, the first champion of folding-screen PCs, has previously experimented with integrating pico projectors into its Yoga Pro line of tablets. But most of the work in small projectors has taken place in standalone devices, some of which have reached the dimensions of smartphones (albeit thicker). They have been great tools for presentations on the go, particularly when one can't find a conference room permutation of video cables and connectors that are on speaking terms.
Beyond that, the practical shortage of suitable screens or wall space, the demands of low light, the ubiquity of functional flat-panel screens, and the rise of casting technologies have limited the spread of projector technology. And the small explosion of USB-C portable displays currently attacking crowdfunding networks may grow to limit it further. Recently, though, one company with an unusual focus on the kids' market has introduced a novel application for its projector that could inspire new ways to experience 360-degree media.
Cinemood markets a small Wi-Fi-enabled cube-shaped projector designed for use by 2- to 8-year-olds. While the device can access Netflix and a few other services (and virtually anything via casting), it's positioned as a way for parents to offer digital entertainment to kids without having children's attention fixated on a handheld device. The target age range tops out at around the age that many kids are getting their first smartphones and also where their tolerance for ad hoc projection onto what may be less than ideal surfaces tends to top out.
But just because Cinemood may be an alternative to smartphones doesn't mean that it can't take a few cues from them. The