Panasonic has revealed a bendable battery that has paved the way for a wide range of flexible electrical products, such as smart clothing, fitness bands and even a scrollable smart phone.

The discovery is based around a standard lithium ion battery that, as the BBC reports, has its “active ingredients painted onto the inside, that is itself then wrapped in an aluminium/plastic mix for the shell”.

Exhibiting the new design at the Japanese technology fair Ceatec, analysts believe that whilst the charge is not yet big enough to power anything practical (only 17.5 milliamps), the design could lead to countless other technologies. As Ben Wood, an analyst with research company CCS, said when talking to the BBC: “I’d wager that Panasonic’s new technology is just one piece of a more complex jigsaw, and it will be some time before we see truly disruptive devices emerging.”

This is especially true as Panasonic claims that bending the battery does not affect performance, and measures only 0.55mm thick with a maximum ‘bend’ of 25 degrees.

The battery is expected to be handed over to manufacturers some time at the end of October, and maybe available to the public in 2018,

You can learn more about Panasonic’s new battery via the BBC report here.