Patent Publication Number: US-2022214757-A1

Title: Methods and apparatus to facilitate user interactions with foldable displays

Description:
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 17/378,359, which was filed on Jul. 16, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 16/721,031, which was filed on Dec. 19, 2019. U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 17/378,359 and U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 16/721,031 are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Priority to U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 17/378,359 and U.S. pat. app. Ser. No. 16/721,031 is claimed. 
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     This disclosure relates generally to foldable displays, and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus to facilitate user interactions with foldable displays. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In recent years, computing devices with foldable displays have been developed that enable a display to be folded into different configurations (e.g., two halves of a display may be folded on top of each other). Foldable displays enable relatively large display screens without compromising portability of the associated computing device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1-4  show an example computing device with a foldable display constructed in accordance with teachings disclosed herein. 
         FIGS. 5-7  are cross-sectional views of the bendable portion of the example computing device of  FIGS. 1-4  in different configurations. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic illustration of example control chips used to control the display of the example computing device of  FIGS. 1-7 . 
         FIGS. 9-10  illustrate another example computing device with a foldable display constructed in accordance with teachings disclosed herein. 
         FIG. 11  is a block diagram illustrating an implementation of an example display control system for the example computing devices of  FIGS. 1-10 . 
         FIG. 12  is a flowchart representative of example machine readable instructions which may be executed to implement the example display control system of  FIG. 11 . 
         FIG. 13  is a block diagram of an example processing platform structured to execute the instructions of  FIG. 12  to implement the example display control system of  FIG. 11   
     
    
    
     The figures are not to scale. Instead, the thickness of the layers or regions may be enlarged in the drawings. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts. As used in this patent, stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, region, or plate) is in any way on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formed on, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either in contact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above the other part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween. Connection references (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and joined) are to be construed broadly and may include intermediate members between a collection of elements and relative movement between elements unless otherwise indicated. As such, connection references do not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected and/or in fixed relation to each other. Stating that any part is in “contact” with another part indicates that there is no intermediate part between the two parts. Although the figures show layers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of these lines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundaries and/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular. 
     Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein when identifying multiple elements or components which may be referred to separately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on their context of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaning of priority, physical order or arrangement in a list, or ordering in time but are merely used as labels for referring to multiple elements or components separately for ease of understanding the disclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be used to refer to an element in the detailed description, while the same element may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor such as “second” or “third.” In such instances, such descriptors are used merely for ease of referencing multiple elements or components. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIGS. 1-4  show an example computing device  100  with a foldable or bendable display  102  constructed in accordance with teachings disclosed herein. As used herein, the terms “foldable” and “bendable” used with reference to a display are interchangeable and indicate that different portions of the display are capable of being repeatedly adjusted relative to one another as the display is bent, folded, or curved about at least one axis without damage to the display. In other words, a “foldable” or “bendable” display includes a portion that has a variable radius of curvature that can be manipulated. The particular radius of curvature of the fold or bend may be of any suitable dimension (e.g., 5 inches, 1 inch, 0.1 inches, 0.01 inches, etc.). In some examples, the display  102  may be folded inward such that the radius of curvature defines a concave surface. In other examples, the display  102  may be folded outward such that the radius of curvature defines a convex surface. In other examples, the display  102  may be folded both inwards and outwards. As used herein, “display,” “screen,” and “display screen” have the same meaning and refer to a structure to visibly convey an image, text, and/or other visual content to a human in response to an electrical control signal. 
     The example computing device  100  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  is in an unfolded or opened configuration with the display in an unfolded state. The device  100  shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  is in a folded configuration with the display in an example folded state. As used herein, the terms “unfolded configuration” and “opened configuration” indicates the display  102  is in an unfolded state in which a foldable region of the display is opened with the radius of curvature at the folding location being at a maximum. In some examples, the unfolded state of the display  102  corresponds to when the display  102  is in a flat state when an entirety of the user facing surface of the display  102  lies in a common plane. However, some example devices may not have a flat state (e.g., devices with curved displays that may nevertheless be folded to differing non-planar positions). The display  102  of such a device is in an unfolded state when the display  102  is fully opened (though potentially with a curved display) with the radius of curvature of any bendable portion at a maximum. By contrast, the term “folded configuration” indicates the display  102  is in the folded state in which the radius of curvature within a foldable region of the display  102  is less than its maximum possible radius of curvature. In examples where the display  102  is flat in the unfolded configuration, the display  102  is in a folded state when at least two different portions of the user facing surface of the display  102  are non-coplanar relative to one another. 
     As shown in the illustrated example of  FIG. 1 , the display  102  includes two similarly sized display areas  104 ,  106  corresponding to separate halves of the display  102  divided by a central fold line  108  along which the display  102  may be folded (e.g., a line define a location where the radius of curvature of the display  102  may be adjusted). The two separate display areas  104 ,  106  (and, thus, the full display  102 ) may be any suitable size and have any suitable dimensions. In some examples, the dimensions of the display areas  104 ,  106  and/or the full display  102  are dimensioned to have a standard aspect ratio. For example, each display area  104 ,  106  may have a 4:3 aspect ratio, which results in a 3:2 aspect ratio for the full display  102 . As a specific example, a diagonal dimension  110  for each of the two display areas  104 ,  106  may be approximately 12 inches and a diagonal dimension  112  of the full display  102  when in the unfolded configuration is approximately 17.3 inches. 
     In the illustrated example, each half of the display  102  (e.g., the display areas  104 ,  106 ) have a standard aspect ratio to facilitate the display of user interfaces designed specifically for such aspect ratios. Thus, as shown in the illustrated example, of  FIG. 2 , a first user interface  114  is rendered in the first display area  104  and a second user interface  116  is rendered in the second display area  106 . In other examples, a single user interface may fill the entire display  102  according to the aspect ratio of the full screen. In other examples, a user interface may be rendered within a portion of one of the display areas  104 ,  106  and/or extend across the fold line  108  to cover at least a portion of each display area  104 ,  106 . Further, the user interfaces rendered via the display may be provided in different orientations. For instance, in the illustrated example of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the user interfaces  114 ,  116  are side-by-side with a long edge  118  of the display  102  running parallel with the top of the user interfaces  114 ,  116 . In other examples, the user interfaces  114 ,  116  may be rotated by  90  degrees with one interface above the other such that a short edge  120  of the display  102  runs parallel with the top of the user interfaces. In some examples, as described more fully below in connection with  FIG. 8 , the content rendered via the first display area  104  (e.g., the first user interface  114 ) is controlled independent of the content rendered via the second display area  106  (e.g., the second user interface  116 ). Although the content rendered via each display area  104 ,  106  may be controlled independently, in some examples, the content on both display areas  104 ,  106  is synched to enable the rendering of content that seamlessly extends across both display areas  104 ,  106 . 
     In the illustrated example of  FIGS. 1-4 , the computing device  100  includes a housing  122  that includes a first rigid portion  124  associated with the first display area  104  of the display  102  and a second rigid portion  126  associated with the second display area  106  of the display  102 . In this example, the rigid portions  124 ,  126  are separated by a bendable portion  128  along which the fold line  108  extends. In the illustrated example, the bendable portion  128  includes part of the first display area  104  and part of the second display area  106  such that content may be displayed on some or all of the bendable portion  128 . 
     In this example, the display  102  is affixed to and/or otherwise supported by the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the device  100 . As a result, in some examples, the display  102  cannot be folded within the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the device  100  because these portions of the housing  122  are rigid and, thus, cannot be folded. That is, in some examples, the material of the display  102  may be bendable but it is prevented from being bent because it is affixed to the rigid (non-bendable) portions  124 ,  126  of the housing  122 . By contrast, in this example, the display  102  is bendable or foldable within the bendable portion  128  based on the bendable nature of the associated portion of the housing  122 . In some examples, the bendable portion  128  of the computing device  100  includes hinges and/or bendable materials to enable the folding and/or bending of the display  102  within the bendable portion  128  of the device. 
     In some examples, the width of the bendable portion  128  is significantly smaller than represented in the illustrated example. In other examples, the width of the bendable portion  128  is larger than shown. In some examples, the entire display  102  is bendable such that there are no rigid portions  124 ,  126  associated with the display. In some examples, the outer edges of the bendable portion  128  correspond to the limits of the portion of the display  102  (and associated housing  122 ) that is capable of bending. In other examples, the bendable portion  128  may extend beyond the limits of the bendable portion of the display  102  to include portions of the display that cannot be folded (e.g., due to being affixed to rigid sections of the housing  122 ). 
     The computing device  100  of the illustrated example may be moved from an unfolded configuration as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  to one or more different folded configurations as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In some examples, the folded configurations may include any suitable angle between the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the display  102 . For instance, in some examples, the bendable portion  128  may be sufficiently bendable to fold the first rigid portion  124  of the device  100  onto the second rigid portion  126  of the device  100  such that the first and second display areas  104 ,  106  of the display  102  face one another with their outer edges aligned. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the display  102  and housing  122  may bend backwards such that the rigid first and second display areas  104 ,  106  face outwards and away from each other. 
     In addition to bending the computing device  100  into different folded configurations, in some examples, the orientation of user interfaces rendered on the display  102  may differ depending on the orientation of the device  100  and its corresponding folded configuration. For example,  FIG. 3  illustrates the computing device  100  folded and oriented in a book configuration with the same user interfaces  114 ,  116  shown in  FIG. 2  rendered side-by-side with a top of the user interfaces extending parallel to the long edge  118  of the display  102 . By contrast,  FIG. 4  illustrates the computing device  100  folded and oriented in a laptop configuration with a third user interface  402  extending across both display areas  104 ,  106  with the top being parallel with the short edge  120  of the display  102 . In this example, the third user interface  402  is an application user interface associated with an application executed on the device  100 . Further, as shown in the illustrated example, the application user interface  402  is contained within a window inside of an operating system user interface  404  rendered to fill the rest of the display  102 . 
     In some examples, the bendable portion  128  of the computing device  100  may be positioned at different locations and/or oriented in a different direction than what is shown in the illustrated examples of  FIGS. 1-4 . For instance, in some examples, the bendable portion  128  may not be centered on the display  102  such that the fold line  108  does not divide the screen in half. In some examples the bendable portion  128  may extend lengthwise across the device  100  in a direction that is rotated 90 degrees relative to the crosswise orientation shown in  FIG. 1 . In other examples, the bendable portion  128  may extend at a different angle relative to the device  100 . Further, in some examples, the location of the fold line  108  may be at different locations within the bendable portion  128  (e.g., other than at the very center). In some examples, the position of the fold line  108  relative to the boundaries of bendable portion  128  may be adjusted or selected by a user. This is possible when the radius of curvature of a fold in the display  102  is less than the width of the bendable portion  128 . Furthermore, in some examples, there may be more than one bendable portion  128  and/or more than one fold line  108  to enable the display  102  to bend in multiple directions and/or at multiple locations. In some such examples, ones of the multiple different fold lines  108  correspond to a portion of the display  102  that bends or folds inward and other ones of the multiple fold lines  108  correspond to a portion of the display  102  that bends or folds outward. In other examples, the multiple different fold lines  108  may correspond to portions of the display  102  that bend in the same direction (both inward, both outward, or each capable of bending both inward and outward). 
     The example display  102  of  FIGS. 1-4  is a touchscreen. Providing touch sensitive functionality on a bendable display presents a number of challenges. For instance, to enable the display  102  to freely bend, the display may need to be detached from the underlying structure of the housing  122 . As a result, the touchscreen  102  within the bendable portion  128  of the computing device  100  may be unsupported in that region as shown in the cross-sectional views of the device  100  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In particular,  FIG. 5  shows the device in an unfolded configuration while  FIG. 6  shows the device  100  folded into a folded configuration. As shown in the illustrated examples, the display  102  is supported by and/or affixed to an underlying rigid structure  502  associated with the housing  122  in the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the device  100 . By contrast, in the illustrated example, the display  102  is separated from an underlying bendable structure  504  within the bendable portion  128  of the device  100 . The bendable portion  128  of the illustrated example is shown as corresponding to the width of the underlying bendable structure  504 . While this corresponds to the portion of the device  100  that is capable of bending, as mentioned above, in some examples, the bendable portion  128  may be defined to include additional portions of the display  102  that cannot bend (e.g., associated with portions of the underlying rigid structure  502 ). 
     In the illustrated example, the separation of the display  102  and the underlying bendable structure  504  within the bendable portion  128  results in a gap  506  beneath the display  102  that may be up to 30 mm wide or more depending on the bend radius of the fold in the display. As a result, when an end user touches the touchscreen  102  in the bendable portion  128 , there is the risk of the user pressing too hard on the unsupported screen, thereby causing damage to the screen. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, a user pressing on the touchscreen  102  within the bendable portion  128  of the device  100  may press against and potentially damage the hinge mechanism built into the underlying bendable structure  504 . In some examples, the hinge mechanism built into the underlying bendable structure  504  may ensure the gap  506  is negligible and/or non-existent. However, the hinge mechanism may still not provide the same amount of support as is possible in the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the device  100 . In some examples, the hinge mechanism built into the underlying bendable structure  504  may provide adequate support to the display  102  (e.g., reduce the gap  506  to a negligible or non-existent state) when the device  100  is in the unfolded configuration but not provide adequate support when the device  100  is in a folded configuration. In all of these scenarios, the lack of adequate support to the display  102  and/or the separation of the display  102  from the underlying bendable structure  504  presents an increased risk of damage to the components as a user touches the display  102  (as a touchscreen) to interact with content rendered on the display. Accordingly, there is a need to enable users to interact with content within the bendable portion of the touchscreen  102  while protecting the touchscreen  102  from damage and/or reducing the frequency and/or pressure with which the touchscreen  102  is touched by users, thereby reducing the risk of damage to the display. 
     Another challenge with foldable touchscreens arises in situations where the radius of curvature of a particular fold is relatively small.  FIG. 7  illustrates the example computing device  100  with a fold in the display having a much smaller radius of curvature than in  FIG. 6 . If the radius of curvature is less than the size of an object used to touch the display (e.g., a user&#39;s finger  702  as shown in  FIG. 7 ), the user may not be able to precisely touch a certain point on the display  102  that is within the bendable portion  128 . In some examples, the user may not be able to touch the desired point within the bendable portion  128  at all because the object (e.g., finger  702 ) is obstructed by contact with the flat portions of the display on either side of the fold. Such a situation sometimes also results in two points of contact on the touchscreen (one on either side of the fold), thereby creating ambiguity in where the user is intending to touch the display. 
     Examples disclosed herein overcome the above and other challenges by providing hover sensing capabilities within the bendable portion  128  of the touchscreen  102 . As used herein, a touchscreen that is capable of “hover sensing” is able to detect the presence of an object (e.g., a user&#39;s finger, a stylus, etc.) that is within a threshold distance (e.g., as much as 2 inches) of the display without the object touching the display (e.g., spaced apart from but hovering in proximity to the display). The more sensitive the hover sensing system, the greater the threshold distance at which objects may be detected. While a hover sensing system is capable of detecting hovering objects such hover sensing systems may also detect objects that are in physical contact with or negligibly spaced apart from (e.g., less than 0.1 inches away from) the display. Sensing systems for touchscreens that are limited to detecting objects in actual contact with the touchscreen are referred to herein as touch sensing systems. Both hover sensing systems and touch/contact system are capable of detecting the location of the object relative to the display. 
     Enabling hover sensing within the region of the touchscreen  102  associated with the bendable portion  128 , as in the illustrated example, enables a user to interact with the display without having to touch the display, thereby reducing the risk that the display, the hinge mechanism, and/or other components within the bendable portion  128  will be damaged from contact. Further, hover sensing in the illustrated example enables a user to effectively reach and/or interact with content within the bendable region even when the user is unable to precisely touch the content because of a relatively small radius of curvature for the fold. 
     While some examples provide the entire display  102  with hover sensing capabilities, such examples add costs to manufacturing the device  100  and also increase processing and power requirements for the operation of the device  100 . Accordingly, in some examples, the display  102  includes a hybrid hover and touch sensing system in which the regions of the touchscreen  102  outside of the bendable portion  128  (e.g., in the rigid portions  124 ,  126 ) does not include hover sensing capabilities. Rather, such regions of the touchscreen  102  include typical touch sensing capability (e.g., require actual contact with the display and/or require objects to be within a negligible distance (e.g., 0.1 inches or less) of the display). In some examples, the hover sensing system is incorporated into and/or integrated with the touch sensing system associated with the touchscreen  102 . In other examples, the hover sensing system may be implemented separately from and/or independently of the touch sensing system of the touchscreen  102 . More particularly, the touch sensitive functionality of the touchscreen  102  may be implemented using any suitable technology including resistive, capacitive (e.g., surface capacitive or projected capacitive), acoustic, and/or infrared based sensing technologies. While all of these technologies may be suitable to implement a touch sensing system, only some of them are also presently capable of hover sensing (e.g., detecting objects beyond a negligible distance as noted above). For instance, resistive touch sensing requires the application of pressure (e.g., via the force of a physical touch) on the touchscreen such that resistive touching techniques cannot detect an object hovering a short distance away from the display. By contrast, capacitive touch sensing is accomplished by detecting changes in capacitance between two electrodes caused by a conductive or dielectric material coming into close proximity with the electrodes. Where the electrodes and/or the associated sensors are sufficiently sensitive, the object may be detected without direct contact with the touchscreen because the object will affect the electric field produced between the electrodes. As such, a capacitive sensor system that is constructed with relatively high sensitivity may be used for hover sensing. 
     Regardless of the particular technology implemented, touch and hover sensing is often implemented with a two dimensional grid or array of electrodes positioned across the region(s) of the display where touch sensing and/or hover sensing is to be enabled. More particularly, as shown in the illustrated example of  FIG. 8 , the touchscreen  102  includes multiple columns of transmitters  802 ,  804  that extend perpendicularly to multiple rows of receivers  806 . In the illustrated example of  FIG. 8 , only a few of the transmitters  802 ,  804  and the receivers  806  are shown for the sake of clarity. Further, the transmitters  802 ,  804  and the receivers  806  are significantly enlarged in  FIG. 8  for purposes of explanation. In the illustrated example, the transmitters  802  within the bendable portion  128  of the device  100  are represented with different shading than the transmitters  804  within the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the device  100  to indicate the different purpose, design, construction, and/or operation of the transmitters in the different regions. More particularly, in some examples, the transmitters  802  within the bendable portion  128  of the device  100  are constructed to be relatively sensitive so as to enable hover sensing. Thus, the transmitters  802  within the bendable portion  128  may be referred to herein as hover sensing transmitters and form part of a hover sensing system  808  of the display  102 . By contrast, the transmitters  804  within the rigid portions  124 ,  126  are constructed to provide touch sensing capabilities without hover sensing. Thus, the transmitters  804  within the bendable portion  128  may be referred to herein as touch sensing transmitters and form part of a touch sensing system  810  of the display  102 . As mentioned above, in some examples, touch sensing transmitters  804  may be included within the bendable portion  128  independent of the hover sensing transmitters  802 . In other examples, the hover sensing transmitters  802  may serve as touch sensing transmitters for the touch sensing system  810  within the bendable portion  128 . 
     As shown in the illustrated example of  FIG. 8 , the receivers  806  associated with the first display area  104  of the touchscreen  102  are separate from the receivers  806  associated with the second display area  106  of the touchscreen  102  due to a small break or interruption at the central fold line  108 . In other words, individual ones of the receivers  806  do not extend the full way across the display but only across either the first display area  104  or the second display area  106 . Dividing the receivers  806  between the first display area  104  and the second display area  106  enables each area to be scanned independently for touch events and/or hover events, thereby reducing the processing time to detect such events. In other examples, the receivers  806  may extend across the entire touchscreen  102  without interruption to implement a single scan of the entire display  102  for touch events and/or hover events. As used herein, a “touch event” refers to the touch sensing system (and/or the hover sensing system) detecting an object (e.g., a user&#39;s finger, a stylus, etc.) touching a particular point on the touchscreen  102 . As used herein, a “hover event” refers to the hover sensing system (e.g., associated with the bendable portion  128 ) detecting an object (e.g., a user&#39;s finger, a stylus, etc.) in close proximity to (e.g., within the threshold distance discussed above though not necessarily touching) a particular point on the touchscreen  102 . 
     In some examples, the independent processing of the touch and/or hover sensing systems associated with the first and second display areas  104 ,  106  is accomplished based on the implementation of separate first and second touchscreen controller chips or touch ICs  812 ,  814  on corresponding first and second touch flexible printed circuits (FPCs)  816 ,  818 . Further, in some examples, the rendering of content on each of the first and second display areas  104 ,  106  is controlled independent of each other based on separate first and second display drivers  820 ,  822  (e.g., separate timing controllers (T-cons)) disposed on corresponding first and second display FPCs  824 ,  826 . Thus, in some examples, both the control and detection of user interactions with the two display areas  104 ,  106  as well as the control of content rendered via the display areas  104 ,  106  are handled independent of one another. In this example, with reference to  FIG. 2 , the first display driver  820  controls the display of the first user interface  114  in the first display area  104  and the second display driver  820  controls the display of the second user interface  116  in the second display area  106 . In some examples, both the first and second display drivers are in communication with a system-on-chip  828  and/or other host processor for the computing device  100 . Independently controlling the touch and sensing systems in each display area  104 ,  106  and independently controlling the display of content in each display area in this manner can increase processor efficiency. 
     Although two touch ICs  812 ,  814  and two display drivers  820 ,  822  are shown in the illustrated example of  FIG. 8 , in other examples, more or fewer touch ICs and/or display drivers may be implemented. For instance, in some examples, a single touch IC may control the hover and touching sensing for the entire touchscreen  102 . Further, in some examples, a single display driver may control the display of content rendered across the entire area of the touchscreen  102 . 
     In some examples, the content rendered for display on the touchscreen  102  is adapted within the bendable portion  128  to facilitate a user to interact with the content using the hover sensing system described above and to reduce the likelihood of the user touching the display in that region in a manner that may damage the device  100 . In particular, in some examples, a visual notification is generated on the touchscreen  102  when a hover event has been detected to inform the user that their finger, stylus, or other object used to interact with the display has been detected. In this manner, a user can determine that they do not need to move any closer to the display and risk causing damage. In some examples, the visual notification is a static visual indicator that is provided independent of the location where the hover event is detected. In other examples, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the visual notification includes a visual marker  406  (e.g., a circle, a halo, an “x”, a crosshair, a dot, a magnifying bubble, etc.) rendered at the location where the hover event is detected. In some such examples, the marker may move (as indicated by the arrows) within the bendable portion  128  based on movement of the object detected in connection with the hover event. In this manner, a user not only is informed that they are sufficiently close to the display to interact with the rendered content, but the user is also informed of the particular location on the display with which the hover sensing system is associating the detected hover event. In some examples, the visual marker  406  may be application specific. That is, in some examples, the visual marker  406  is generated in connection with the particular application for which the application user interface  402  on the display  102  in  FIG. 4  is generated. In other examples, the visual marker  406  may be generated by the underlying operating system to be displayed regardless of the user interface associated with a particular application executing on the device  100 . 
     In some examples, other types of notifications may be generated to inform a user that a hover event has been detected. For example, the device  100  may vibrate and/or provide different haptic feedback in response to the detection of hover event. Additionally or alternatively, an audible notification may be generated in response to a hover event. 
     Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the appearance of content rendered on the display  102  within the bendable portion  128  may differ from content in the rigid portions  124 ,  126  regardless of whether a hover even has been detected. For instance, the operating system user interface  404  of  FIG. 4  includes a series of icons  408  that extend across the bendable portion  128 . As shown in the illustrated example, the icon  410  within the bendable portion  128  is rendered to appear more three-dimensional (3D) than the other icons  408  to convey the idea that a user does not need to actually touch the surface of the display  102  to select the particular icon  410 . In other examples, the icon  410  within the bendable portion  128  may differ in appearance in a manner other than a 3D-like effect. Furthermore, such changes in appearance are not limited to icons but may apply to any type and/or portion of content rendered on the display  102 . 
     In some examples, particular user interactions with the display may begin in one of the rigid portions  124 ,  126  of the display  102  and cross into the bendable portion  128  or vice versa. As an example, the third user interface  402  shown in  FIG. 4  includes a scrollbar  412  that extends between the first and second display areas  104 ,  106  across the bendable portion  128 . A user may seek to select the scrollbar slider  414  and drag it all the way down to the bottom of the scrollbar  412 . To initially select the slider  414 , the user may touch the display  102  (with a finger or stylus) at the location of the slider  414  and continue touching the display while dragging the slider  414  down the scrollbar. Dragging the slider  414  all the way to the bottom of the scrollbar  412  using only a touch sensing system, would require the user to continuously touch the display through the bendable portion  128 . This may result in damage to the display as described above because the display may be less supported within the bendable portion  128 . Furthermore, in some examples, particularly, where the bend radius is relatively small, the user may not be able to maintain a continuous point of contact with the touchscreen  102 . These problems are overcome by invoking the hover sensing system  808  within the bendable portion  128 . Even if the user uses a light touch or even momentarily ceases to touch the display  102  as the bendable portion  128  is traversed, the system will interpret the user interaction as one continuous motion to control the slider  414  through the bendable portion of the display  102 . 
     In some examples, to facilitate the transition from the touch sensing system  810  within the rigid portions  124 ,  126  and the hover sensing system  808  in the bendable portion  128 , the hover sensing system  808  is given priority over the touch sensing system  810 . That is, when a hover event has been detected, user interactions with the touchscreen  102  may be governed by rules associated with hover-based inputs that do not require continuous contact with the display for a single user input and/or interaction. On the other hand, if no hover event is detected, the user interactions with the touchscreen  102  may be governed by rules associated with touch-based inputs in which each touch and release is interpreted as an independent user input and/or interaction. 
       FIGS. 9-10  illustrate another example foldable display computing device  900  with a foldable display  902  constructed in accordance with teachings disclosed herein. More particularly,  FIG. 9  shows the device  900  in an unfolded configuration and  FIG. 10  shows the device  900  folded into a folded configuration with a bendable portion  904  separating first and second rigid portions  906 ,  908 . The display  902  includes a first display area  910  associated with the first rigid portion  906 , a second display area  912  associated with a second rigid portion  908 , and a third display area  914  associated with the bendable portion  904 . In some examples, similar to the display  102  of  FIGS. 1-8 , the first and second display areas  910 ,  912  of  FIG. 9  have a standard aspect ratio (e.g., a 4:3 aspect ratio). However, unlike the display  102  of  FIGS. 108 , the first and second display areas  910 ,  912  of  FIG. 9  do not extend into the bendable portion  904  or up to a central fold line  916 . Rather, the first and second display areas  910 ,  912  extend up to the edge of the bendable portion  904 . As a result, while both the first and second display areas may have standard 4:3 aspects ratios, the aspect ratio of the entire display will not be exactly 3:2 (as in the case of the display  102  of  FIG. 1 ) because there will be extra width arising from the width of the bendable portion  904 . As a specific example, if the diagonal dimension  918  of the first and second areas is 12 inches, the diagonal dimension  920  of the full display  902  will be 17.3+X inches, where X depends on the width of the third display area  914 . 
       FIG. 10  shows the same first and second user interfaces  114 ,  116  shown in  FIG. 2 , rendered in the respective first and second display areas  910 ,  912  of the display  902 . As shown in the illustrated example, unlike in  FIG. 2 , the user interfaces  114 ,  116  in  FIG. 10  do not extend into the bendable portion  904 . As a result, a user will not need to interact with the bendable portion  904  of the display  902  when seeking to interact with either of the user interfaces  114 ,  116 . Accordingly, in some such examples, there is no need for a hover sensing system as described above in connection with the example computing device  100  of  FIGS. 1-8 . Further, in some examples the touch sensing system within the bendable portion  904  may be disabled or deactivated. In some examples, the bendable portion  904  may not include a touch sensing system. As users become aware that the ability to detect touch events in the bendable portion  904  is either disabled or omitted, the users will be less likely to attempt to touch the display  102  in the bendable portion  904 , thereby reducing the likelihood of damage to the device  100  in that region. While the display  102  may not be able to detect touch events within the bendable portion  904 , the display may nevertheless render content within the bendable portion. Accordingly, the third user interface  1002  is shown within the bendable portion  904  in the illustrated example of  FIG. 10 . In some such examples, the third user interface  1002  includes non-interactive information that a user would not seek to touch (e.g., date, time, logos, etc.). Further, in some examples, the third user interface  1002  may include an indication or notification that touch sensing capabilities are deactivated or unavailable in the bendable portion  904 . 
       FIG. 11  is a block diagram illustrating an implementation of an example display control system for the computing devices  100 ,  900  of FIGS.  1 - 10 . However, for purposes of explanation, the following description is provided with respect to the computing device  100  of  FIGS. 1-8 . The display control system  1100  includes an example configuration analyzer  1102 , an example user interface generator  1104 , an example sensor controller  1106 , an example sensor analyzer  1108 , and an example operations controller  1110 . 
     In the illustrated example of  FIG. 11 , the example configuration analyzer  1102  determines the physical configuration of the example computing device  100 . That is, in some examples, the configuration analyzer  1102  determines when the device  100  is in an unfolded configuration (as shown in  FIGS. 1, 2, 5, and 8 ) and when the device  100  is in a folded configuration (as shown in  FIGS. 3, 4, 6, and 7 ). In some examples, this determination is made based on feedback from one or more sensors associated with a hinge mechanism in the bendable portion  128  of the device. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the configuration analyzer  1102  distinguishes between different types of folded configurations such as the book configuration (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) and the laptop configuration (as shown in  FIG. 4 ). In some examples, the particular type of folded configuration is determined based on feedback from an orientation sensor. In some examples, the configuration analyzer  1102  may also determine the orientation of the device  100  when in the unfolded configuration. 
     In the illustrated example of  FIG. 11 , the example user interface generator  1104  generates user interface(s) to be displayed on the display  102 . In some examples, the user interface(s) are generated based on the configuration information and/or the orientation information provided by the configuration analyzer  1102 . In some examples, different user interfaces(s) and/or particular elements of the user interface(s) may differ depending on whether the device  100  is in the unfolded configuration or a non-fat configuration. More particularly, in some examples, the user interface generator  1104  may provide a touch-based user interface for display when the device is in the unfolded configuration. In some examples, the touch-based user interface is a standard user interface that includes touch sensitive interactive content that may be positioned anywhere across the display  102 . Further, in some examples, the user interface generator  1104  adjusts and/or modifies the touch-based user interface within a region corresponding to the bendable portion  128  of the device  100  when the device  100  is in the folded configuration. Specifically, in some examples, the user interface generator  1104  modifies the touch sensitive interactive content to have a different appearance (e.g., one that produces a 3D effect) indicative of being hover sensitive interactive content. In this manner, users are able to understand that they may hover over the interactive content without touching the display  102  to interact with the content. In some examples, rather than modifying a touch-based user interface associated with the unfolded configuration, the user interface generator  1104  may replace the entire touch-based user interface with a hover-based user interface that includes an indication of hover sensitive interactive content within the bendable portion  128 . In some examples, there may be more than one user interface generator  1104  to generate user interfaces for different portions of the display  102  (e.g., a first user interface generator to generate user interfaces for the first display area  104  and a second user interface generator to generate user interfaces for the second display area  106 ). In some examples, the user interface generator  1104  includes, corresponds to, and/or operates in conjunction with the display drivers  820 ,  822  of  FIG. 8   
     In the illustrated example, the sensor controller  1106  controls the operation of the touch sensing system and/or the hover sensing system associated with the display  102 . As mentioned above, in some examples, the touch sensing system may include the hover sensing system. In other examples, the hover sensing system may be independent of the touch sensing system. In some such examples, the display control system  1100  may include more than one sensor controller  1106 . Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, multiple sensor controllers  1106  may be implemented to control touch sensing systems and/or hover sensing systems in different areas of the display  102 . In some examples, the sensor controller  1106  includes, corresponds to, and/or operates in conjunction with the touch ICs  812 ,  814  of  FIG. 8 . 
     In the illustrated example, the sensor analyzer  1108  analyzes feedback from the sensing systems controlled by the sensor controller  1106  to determine when a hover event and/or a touch event has occurred. Furthermore, the example sensor analyzer  1108  determines the location of the detected hover event and/or the touch event on the display  102 . In some examples, the sensor analyzer  1108  determines an effect of the detected hover event and/or touch event based on an analysis of the content on the user interface at the location of the hover event and/or touch event. AS described above, in some examples, the way a touch event and/or hover event are interpreted by the sensor analyzer  1108  depends on whether a hover event has been detected. When a hover event has been detected, hover-based user interactions are assumed such that a touch and release and subsequent touch is not necessarily interpreted as two separate interactions but may be treated as a single user interaction. In some examples, the sensor analyzer determines whether multiple touches and releases are associated with a single user interaction or multiple interactions associated with a hover event based on the context (e.g., the position, direction, and timing of the touches relative to the bendable portion  128  as well as the size of the bendable portion  128  and/or the radius of curvature of the bend within the bendable portion  128 ). If no hover event has been detected, touch-based user interactions are assumed such that the sensor analyzer  1108  treats each separate touch and release of the display  102  as a separate user interaction. 
     In some examples, an output of the sensor analyzer  1108  (e.g., indicating a touch event or a hover event) causes the user interface generator  1104  to update and/or change the content rendered on the display  102 . In some examples, the user interface generator  1104  may modify the user interface rendered on the display  102  in response to the detection of a hover event within the bendable portion of the display. More particularly, in some examples, when a hover event is detected, the user interface generator  1104  generates a notification that the hover event was detected. In some examples, the notification includes an indication of the location determined for the detected hover event. Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the detection of a hover event by the sensor analyzer  1108  may trigger other types of user notifications (e.g., audible, haptic, etc.) to indicate the hover event was detected. 
     In the illustrated example, the operations controller  1110  controls the operations of and interactions between the other elements of the display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11  described above. Further, in some examples, the operations controller  1110  enables interactions with other components of the computing device  100 . For instance, in some examples, the operations controller  1110  implements the audible and/or haptic user notifications based on the output of the sensor analyzer  1108  as described above. Further, in some examples, the operations controller  1110  implements a suitable response to user interaction with the display  102  detected by the sensor analyzer  1108 . 
     While an example manner of implementing the display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11  is illustrated in  FIG. 11 , one or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in  FIG. 11  may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example configuration analyzer  1102 , the example user interface generator  1104 , the example sensor controller  1106 , the example sensor analyzer  1108 , the example operations controller  1110 , and/or, more generally, the example display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11  may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the example configuration analyzer  1102 , the example user interface generator  1104 , the example sensor controller  1106 , the example sensor analyzer  1108 , the example operations controller  1110  and/or, more generally, the example display control system  1100  could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example configuration analyzer  1102 , the example user interface generator  1104 , the example sensor controller  1106 , the example sensor analyzer  1108 , and/or the example operations controller  1110  is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11  may include one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in  FIG. 11 , and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. As used herein, the phrase “in communication,” including variations thereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communication through one or more intermediary components, and does not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, but rather additionally includes selective communication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-time events. 
     A flowchart representative of example hardware logic, machine readable instructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or any combination thereof for implementing the display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11  is shown in  FIG. 12 . The machine readable instructions may be one or more executable programs or portion(s) of an executable program for execution by a computer processor such as the processor  1312  shown in the example processor platform  1300  discussed below in connection with  FIG. 13 . The program may be embodied in software stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor  1312 , but the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor  1312  and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 12 , many other methods of implementing the example display control system  1100  may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured to perform the corresponding operation without executing software or firmware. 
     The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in one or more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmented format, a compiled format, an executable format, a packaged format, etc. Machine readable instructions as described herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions, code, representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create, manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. For example, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and stored on one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers). The machine readable instructions may require one or more of installation, modification, adaptation, updating, combining, supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking, distribution, reassignment, compilation, etc. in order to make them directly readable, interpretable, and/or executable by a computing device and/or other machine. For example, the machine readable instructions may be stored in multiple parts, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and stored on separate computing devices, wherein the parts when decrypted, decompressed, and combined form a set of executable instructions that implement a program such as that described herein. 
     In another example, the machine readable instructions may be stored in a state in which they may be read by a computer, but require addition of a library (e.g., a dynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit (SDK), an application programming interface (API), etc. in order to execute the instructions on a particular computing device or other device. In another example, the machine readable instructions may need to be configured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addresses recorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or the corresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, the disclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s) are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/or program(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machine readable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at rest or in transit. 
     The machine readable instructions described herein can be represented by any past, present, or future instruction language, scripting language, programming language, etc. For example, the machine readable instructions may be represented using any of the following languages: C, C++, Java, C#, Perl, Python, JavaScript, HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Structured Query Language (SQL), Swift, etc. 
     As mentioned above, the example processes of  FIG. 12  may be implemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. 
     “Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are used herein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any form of “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising, including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation of any kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outside the scope of the corresponding claim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including” are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form such as A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as (1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) B with C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context of describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context of describing the performance or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performance or execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B. 
     As used herein, singular references (e.g., “a”, “an”, “first”, “second”, etc.) do not exclude a plurality. The term “a” or “an” entity, as used herein, refers to one or more of that entity. The terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more”, and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. Furthermore, although individually listed, a plurality of means, elements or method actions may be implemented by, e.g., a single unit or processor. Additionally, although individual features may be included in different examples or claims, these may possibly be combined, and the inclusion in different examples or claims does not imply that a combination of features is not feasible and/or advantageous. 
     The program of  FIG. 12  begins at block  1202  where the example configuration analyzer  1102  determines whether the computing device  100  is folded or unfolded. That is, the example configuration analyzer  1102  determines whether the device  100  is in an unfolded configuration or a folded configuration. If the device is unfolded, control advances to block  1204  where the example user interface generator  1104  renders a user interface with an indication of touch sensitive interactive content. At block  1206 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  monitors the touch sensing system for a touch event. Thereafter, control advances to block  1242 . 
     Returning to block  1202 , if the example configuration analyzer  1102  determines that the computing device  100  is folded, control advances to block  1208 . The example program of  FIG. 12  assumes that the hinge mechanism within the bendable portion  128  of the device  100  provides adequate support to the display  102  when in the unfolded configuration to allow a user to touch the display within the bendable portion  128  without appreciable risk of damage to the display such that hover sensing is unnecessary. If, however, hover sensing is to be employed regardless of the configuration of the device  100 , then blocks  1202 - 1206  may be omitted with the example program beginning at block  1208 . At block  1208 , the example user interface generator  1104  renders a user interface with an indication of hover sensitive interactive content within the bendable portion of the display  102 . At block  1210 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  monitors the hover sensing system for a hover event. At block  1212 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  monitors the touch sensing system for a touch event. 
     At block  1214 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  determines whether a hover event is detected. If so, control advances to block  1216  where the example user interface generator  1104  and/or the operations controller  1110  generate a notification to the user indicating the detection of the hover event. Thereafter, control advances to block  1218 . Returning to block  1214 , if no hove event is detected, control advances directly to block  1242 . 
     At block  1218 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  determines whether the hover event indicates user intent for some response. That is, the example sensor analyzer  1108  determines whether the object detected as causing the user event (e.g., the user&#39;s finger, a stylus, etc.) is hovering over the display  102  to interact with content rendered on the display or is merely passing over the display. If the sensor analyzer  1108  determines the hover event indicates a user intent for some response, control advances to block  1220  where the example operations controller  1110  implements the response to the hover event. Thereafter, control advances to block  1222 . Returning to block  1218 , if there is no indication of user intent for some response, control advances directly to block  1222 . 
     At block  1222 , the example sensor analyzer  1108  determines whether a touch event has been detected. If so, control advances to block  1224  where the example operations controller  1110  implements a response to the touch event. Thereafter, control advances to block  1226 . If, at block  1222 , the sensor analyzer determines that no touch event has been detected, control advances directly to block  1226 . At block  1226 , the example program determines whether to continue. If so, control returns to block  1202 . Otherwise, the example program of  FIG. 12  ends. 
       FIG. 13  is a block diagram of an example processor platform  1300  structured to execute the instructions of  FIG. 12  to implement the display control system  1100  of  FIG. 11 . The processor platform  1300  can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, or any other type of computing device. 
     The processor platform  1300  of the illustrated example includes a processor  1312 . The processor  1312  of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor  1312  can be implemented by one or more integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs, or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, the processor implements the example configuration analyzer  1102 , the example user interface generator  1104 , the example sensor controller  1106 , the example sensor analyzer  1108 , and the example operations controller  1110 . 
     The processor  1312  of the illustrated example includes a local memory  1313  (e.g., a cache). The processor  1312  of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory  1314  and a non-volatile memory  1316  via a bus  1318 . The volatile memory  1314  may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory  1316  may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory  1314 ,  1316  is controlled by a memory controller. 
     The processor platform  1300  of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit  1320 . The interface circuit  1320  may be implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near field communication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface. 
     In the illustrated example, one or more input devices  1322  are connected to the interface circuit  1320 . The input device(s)  1322  permit(s) a user to enter data and/or commands into the processor  1312 . The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system. 
     One or more output devices  1324  are also connected to the interface circuit  1320  of the illustrated example. The output devices  1324  can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching (IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printer and/or speaker. The interface circuit  1320  of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor. 
     The interface circuit  1320  of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a network interface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network  1326 . The communication can be via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, a satellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephone system, etc. 
     The processor platform  1300  of the illustrated example also includes one or more mass storage devices  1328  for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage devices  1328  include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundant array of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives. 
     The machine executable instructions  1332  of  FIG. 12  may be stored in the mass storage device  1328 , in the volatile memory  1314 , in the non-volatile memory  1316 , and/or on a removable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD. 
     From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that preserve the integrity of a foldable touchscreen and/or associated hinge mechanisms within a bendable portion of the device from damage due to forceful touching of the bendable portion of the display. This is achieved by enabling hover sensing within the bendable portion of the display to enable a user to interact with the display without touching it. In some examples, the hover sensing system is limited to the bendable portion to reduce manufacturing costs and also to reduce power and/or processing requirements to operate the display. The disclosed methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture are accordingly directed to one or more improvement(s) in the functioning of a computer. 
     Example methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to facilitate user interactions with foldable displays are disclosed herein. Further examples and combinations thereof include the following: 
     Example 1 includes a computing device comprising a foldable display having a first region, a second region, and a bendable region between the first and second regions, a hover sensing system associated with the bendable region to detect a hover event, a touch sensing system associated with at least one of the first region or the second region to detect a touch event, and an operations controller to implement an action on the computing device responsive to at least one of the hover event or the touch event. 
     Example 2 includes the computing device of example 1, wherein the touch sensing system includes the hover sensing system. 
     Example 3 includes the computing device of example 1, wherein the hover sensing system is separate from the touch sensing system. 
     Example 4 includes the computing device of any one of examples 1-3, wherein the display includes a first display area associated with the first region and a second display area associated with the second region. 
     Example 5 includes the computing device of example 4, wherein the first display area shares a common border with the second display area, the border included within the bendable region of the display. 
     Example 6 includes the computing device of example 4, wherein the display includes a third display area associated with the bendable region, the third display area separating the first display area and the second display area. 
     Example 7 includes the computing device of any one of examples 4-6, further including a first touch IC to control at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the first display area, and a second touch IC to control at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the second display area. 
     Example 8 includes the computing device of any one of examples 4-7, further including a first display driver to control content rendered in the first display area, and a second display driver to control content rendered in the second display area. 
     Example 9 includes the computing device of any one of examples 4-8, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system includes an array of transmitters extending across the display in a first direction and an array of receivers extending across the display in a second direction, the first display area adjacent the second display area in the second direction, ones of the receivers extending across the first display area without extending across the second display area. 
     Example 10 includes the computing device of any one of examples 1-9, further including a user interface generator to render interactive content on the display, the interactive content having a first appearance in the first region and a second different appearance in the bendable region. 
     Example 11 includes the computing device of any one of examples 1-10, further including a user interface generator to render a graphical user interface on the display, and in response to the hover sensing system detecting the hover event, modify a portion of the graphical user interface corresponding to a location where the hover event was detected. 
     Example 12 includes the computing device of any one of examples 1-11, further including a configuration analyzer to determine whether the computing device is in a folded configuration or an unfolded configuration, and a sensor controller to activate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the folded configuration and to deactivate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the unfolded configuration. 
     Example 13 includes an apparatus comprising a sensor analyzer to detect a hover event via a hover sensing system included within a first region of a foldable display of a computing device, and detect a touch event via a touch sensing system included within a second region of the display separate from the first region, the second region spaced apart from the hover sensing system, and an operations controller to implement an action on the computing device responsive to at least one of the hover event or the touch event. 
     Example 14 includes the apparatus of example 13, wherein the touch sensing system is included within the first region of the display. 
     Example 15 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the touch sensing system includes the hover sensing system. 
     Example 16 includes the apparatus of example 14, wherein the hover sensing system is separate from the touch sensing system. 
     Example 17 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 13-16, wherein the first region corresponds to a bendable portion of the computing device and the second region corresponds to a rigid portion of the computing device. 
     Example 18 includes the apparatus of example 17, wherein the display includes a first display area and a second display area, the display foldable along the bendable portion such that the first display area faces the second display area. 
     Example 19 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the first display area shares a common border with the second display area, the border included within the bendable portion of the display. 
     Example 20 includes the apparatus of example 18, wherein the display includes a third display area separating the first display area and the second display area, the bendable portion of the display included within the third display area. 
     Example 21 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 18-20, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the first display area is controlled using a first touch IC and at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the second display area is controlled using a second touch IC different than the first touch IC. 
     Example 22 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 18-21, wherein a first display driver is associated with the first display area and a second display driver, different than the first display driver, is associated with the second display area. 
     Example 23 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 18-22, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system includes an array of transmitters extending across the display in a first direction and an array of receivers extending across the display in a second direction, the first display area adjacent the second display area in the second direction, ones of the receivers extending across the first display area without extending across the second display area. 
     Example 24 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 13-23, further including a user interface generator to render interactive content on the display, the interactive content having a first appearance in the first region and a second different appearance in the second region. 
     Example 25 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 13-24, further including a user interface generator to render a graphical user interface on the display, and in response to the sensor analyzer detecting the hover event, modify a portion of the graphical user interface corresponding to a location where the hover event was detected. 
     Example 26 includes the apparatus of any one of examples 13-25, further including a configuration analyzer to determine whether the computing device is in a folded configuration or an unfolded configuration, and a sensor controller to activate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the folded configuration and to deactivate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the unfolded configuration. 
     Example 27 includes a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least detect a hover event via a hover sensing system included within a first region of a foldable display of a computing device, detect a touch event via a touch sensing system included within a second region of the display separate from the first region, the second region spaced apart from the hover sensing system, and implement an action on the computing device responsive to at least one of the hover event or the touch event. 
     Example 28 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 27, wherein the touch sensing system is included within the first region of the display. 
     Example 29 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 28, wherein the touch sensing system includes the hover sensing system. 
     Example 30 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 28, wherein the hover sensing system is separate from the touch sensing system. 
     Example 31 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 27-30, wherein the first region corresponds to a bendable portion of the computing device and the second region corresponds to a rigid portion of the computing device. 
     Example 32 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 31, wherein the display includes a first display area and a second display area, the display foldable along the bendable portion such that the first display area faces the second display area. 
     Example 33 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 32, wherein the first display area shares a common border with the second display area, the border included within the bendable portion of the display. 
     Example 34 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of example 32, wherein the display includes a third display area separating the first display area and the second display area, the bendable portion of the display included within the third display area. 
     Example 35 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 32-34, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the first display area is controlled using a first touch IC and at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the second display area is controlled using a second touch IC different than the first touch IC. 
     Example 36 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 32-35, wherein a first display driver is associated with the first display area and a second display driver, different than the first display driver, is associated with the second display area. 
     Example 37 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 32-36, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system includes an array of transmitters extending across the display in a first direction and an array of receivers extending across the display in a second direction, the first display area adjacent the second display area in the second direction, ones of the receivers extending across the first display area without extending across the second display area. 
     Example 38 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 27-37, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to render interactive content on the display, the interactive content having a first appearance in the first region and a second different appearance in the second region. 
     Example 39 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 27-38, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to render a graphical user interface on the display, and in response to detection of the hover event, modify a portion of the graphical user interface corresponding to a location where the hover event was detected. 
     Example 40 includes the non-transitory computer readable medium of any one of examples 27-39, wherein the instructions further cause the machine to determine whether the computing device is in a folded configuration or an unfolded configuration, activate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the folded configuration, and deactivate the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the unfolded configuration. 
     Example 41 includes a method comprising detecting, by executing an instruction with a processor, a hover event via a hover sensing system included within a first region of a foldable display of a computing device, detecting, by executing an instruction with the processor, a touch event via a touch sensing system included within a second region of the display separate from the first region, the second region spaced apart from the hover sensing system, and implementing an action on the computing device responsive to at least one of the hover event or the touch event. 
     Example 42 includes the method of example 41, wherein the touch sensing system is included within the first region of the display. 
     Example 43 includes the method of example 42, wherein the touch sensing system includes the hover sensing system. 
     Example 44 includes the method of example 42, wherein the hover sensing system is separate from the touch sensing system. 
     Example 45 includes the method of any one of examples 41-44, wherein the first region corresponds to a bendable portion of the computing device and the second region corresponds to a rigid portion of the computing device. 
     Example 46 includes the method of example 45, wherein the display includes a first display area and a second display area, the display foldable along the bendable portion such that the first display area faces the second display area. 
     Example 47 includes the method of example 46, wherein the first display area shares a common border with the second display area, the border included within the bendable portion of the display. 
     Example 48 includes the method of example 46, wherein the display includes a third display area separating the first display area and the second display area, the bendable portion of the display included within the third display area. 
     Example 49 includes the method of any one of examples 46-48, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the first display area is controlled using a first touch IC and at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system in the second display area is controlled using a second touch IC different than the first touch IC. 
     Example 50 includes the method of any one of examples 46-49, wherein a first display driver is associated with the first display area and a second display driver, different than the first display driver, is associated with the second display area. 
     Example 51 includes the method of any one of examples 46-50, wherein at least one of the hover sensing system or the touch sensing system includes an array of transmitters extending across the display in a first direction and an array of receivers extending across the display in a second direction, the first display area adjacent the second display area in the second direction, ones of the receivers extending across the first display area without extending across the second display area. 
     Example 52 includes the method of any one of examples 41-51, further including rendering interactive content on the display, the interactive content having a first appearance in the first region and a second different appearance in the second region. 
     Example 53 includes the method of any one of examples 41-52, further including rendering a graphical user interface on the display, and in response to detection of the hover event, modifying a portion of the graphical user interface corresponding to a location where the hover event was detected. 
     Example 54 includes the method of any one of examples 41-53, further including determining whether the computing device is in a folded configuration or an unfolded configuration, activating the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the folded configuration, and deactivating the hover sensing system when the computing device is in the unfolded configuration. 
     Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent. 
     The following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description by this reference, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of the present disclosure.