Last year, Lenovo showed off a very futuristic concept gadget called Project Crystal, which was the world’s first laptop with a transparent MicroLED display, but today, as per usual for Lenovo at IFA, the company unveiled yet another demo laptop, this time with a motorized rotating hinge.
Dubbed the Auto Twist AI PC, Lenovo’s latest concept looks almost identical to a traditional clamshell when closed. However, with a simple voice command, the lid will automatically lift and rotate to nearly any position, even rotating all the way into tablet mode. There’s no official pricing or full production plans for the device yet, but Lenovo says Auto Twist is designed to provide greater adaptability, improved ergonomics, and possibly improved security. But for now, the company’s main goal is to see what environments and use cases can make the most of such a novelly designed laptop.
For example, built-in object tracking allows Auto Twist to move the display to follow you as you walk around the room – extremely useful when giving a presentation – and it can even detect your body, and sometimes your posture, to move the display to the optimal position to reduce fatigue and strain.
Sam Rutherford (Engadget)
Or it could detect when the laptop is not being used and automatically close the lid to prevent unauthorized access. While Auto Twist’s AI tag seems a bit suspicious, Lenovo hopes the laptop will soon be able to perform many of these functions automatically, or with simple natural language voice control (the laptop currently supports commands to switch between laptop mode, clamshell mode, etc.).
Seeing it in action, the use case that immediately came to mind was POS (point of sale) payment terminals, where an employee often needs to manually rotate the screen so that a customer can see the total, add a tip, etc. Admittedly, Auto Twist seems like overkill in this situation, given how easy it is to rotate the screen the old-fashioned way, using your hands, and the built-in motors, at least from what I saw, weren’t as smooth as you’d expect in a commercial application. But it’s an interesting idea that could see some use in luxury outlets.
And it’s not just fun: During the demo, we saw Auto Twist play clips of dancers, with the motorized hinge attempting to adjust the display to match the person’s movements. We also saw the laptop rotate the display horizontally to display ultra-wide panoramic photos in a more appealing way. Plus, while other cutting-edge technologies, such as laptops with foldable displays, add significant weight and bulk, the rotating servos on Lenovo’s latest concept are relatively unnoticeable and don’t significantly impact the device’s overall portability.
Sam Rutherford (Engadget)
So while it remains to be seen how useful Auto Twist actually is or what it will become in the future, it’s good to see Lenovo continuing to find new ways to evolve the classic clamshell laptop.
