Smartphone displays smart enough to sense user’s spit

Wondering if you have a cold? You may be able one day soon to spit on your smartphone to find out.

Researchers at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada, collaborating with glass maker Corning, are getting closer to making that kind of feature a reality for mobile devices by developing a "smart" glass that can analyze fluids on its surface, Cnet.com reported.

Such a capability may allow smartphones, wearables and tablets to expand their usefulness in personal medicine, security, and food and environmental safety. Such features could be indispensable for a mobile-devices industry fixated on playing a bigger role in health and fitness. Apple, Samsung and others have been rolling out a bevy of health-related apps, fitness-focused smartphones and wearables that track sleep cycles and steps walked.

The researchers say the glass could significantly push forward mobile-health offerings, enabling devices to assess pathogens in spit to diagnose an illness or test blood sugar levels in blood for diabetic patients. More broadly, the material could also be used to gauge carbon-monoxide levels in the air or offer an added security layer embedded in the display glass - just to name a few ideas.