At CES this year, OnePlus announced its first concept phone, known as the OnePlus Concept One. The Concept One features a special glass that uses an electrical current to tint the lens of the rear cameras.
When the cameras aren't in use, the glass is opaque and black. When it's time to launch the camera, the glass turns transparent and the cameras are visible.
Though largely for aesthetics and novelty, the feature does double as a neutral-density filter for the camera, letting you tweak a photo's exposure. (You can turn it on and off in the Pro mode of the camera.)
The idea sounds nifty enough, especially as a camera filter. The switch also works pretty quickly; it takes less than a second -- 0.7 second to be exact, about the same amount of time it takes to launch the camera, according to OnePlus.
OnePlus worked on the phone for 18 months and got the idea through its partnership with supercar company McLaren. You can see this kind of opaque-transforming glass, known as electrochromic glass, in the sunroofs of luxury cars like those made by McLaren.
OnePlus is continuing to explore different applications of electrochromic glass. For now, the Concept One marks the company's first CES announcement and offers an early glimpse of where OnePlus is heading.
