Now scientists have worked out a way of making these gyroscopes much, much smaller.

How small? Well, smaller than a grain of rice in fact. If you're hoping your next phone is going to be an easier fit inside your pocket – or even small enough to clip to your wrist – then this is one of the innovations that might help.

"The proof-of-concept device is capable of detecting phase shifts 30 times smaller than state-of-the-art miniature fibre-optic gyroscopes, despite being 500 times smaller in size," explains the team behind the work.