The PaperPhone can do all the things bulkier smartphones can do such as make and take calls, send messages, play music or display e-books.
The gadget triggers different functions and features when bent, folded and flexed at its corners or sides.
"Everything is going to look and feel like this within five years," said creator Dr Roel Vertegaal.
The device emerged from a collaboration between researchers at the Human Media Lab at Queen's University, Canada and Arizona State University's Motivational Environments Research group.