Samsung's Think Tank Team's Project Afterlife concept transforms old smartphones into multifunctional display devices to operate as a clock, photo gallery display, and abstract art generator.

Even those well versed with Samsung’s expansive reach across industries and consumer categories may be unaware the Korean tech giant funds a small separate team of designers, researchers, scientists, and engineers in Silicon Valley to ponder the big picture question, “What’s next".” Nestled within the Samsung Research America technology center, the interdisciplinary collective known as the Think Tank Team works on developing concepts like Ballie, an autonomous personal robot and mobile projector, and in-home produce growing kitchen appliances. While those projects revolve around cutting edge technologies, the Think Tank Team is also concerned about the afterlife of devices already in the wild.
Mobile devices just a few years old are often labeled obsolete. Yet, these once treasured smartphones are generally still very capable of adopting new roles as household-bound smart devices. Nearly every household hosts a box or drawer where outdated/damaged mobile devices are banished to be forgotten ? 1.7 unused mobile devices per household on average, according to data cited by Samsung.

Think Tank Team’s Project Afterlife was conceived to address the mounting issue of tech gone to waste, a concept that turns unused phones into a “timeless art...