Final 12 months, Lenovo confirmed off a fantastically futuristic idea gadget referred to as Venture Crystal, which was the world’s first laptop computer to characteristic a clear MicroLED show. However at present, in what has turn into a convention for Lenovo throughout IFA, the corporate is again with yet one more demo pocket book, this time outfitted with a motorized rotating hinge.
Dubbed the Auto Twist AI PC, Lenovo’s newest idea seems virtually precisely like a standard clamshell when closed. Nonetheless, with a easy voice command, its lid raises robotically and rotates into virtually any place — even all the best way round into pill mode. Whereas there isn’t a official pricing, and even plans to deliver the gadget to full manufacturing simply but, Lenovo says the Auto Twist is designed to supply enhanced adaptability, improved ergonomics and probably higher safety. However for now, the corporate’s fundamental aim is just to see what environments or use instances would possibly be capable of greatest benefit from a laptop computer with this type of novel design.
Because of built-in object monitoring, for instance, the Auto Twist can transfer its show and comply with folks as they stroll round a room, which could possibly be very useful when making shows. It will probably additionally detect an individual’s physique, and probably even their posture, earlier than transferring its show into the most effective place to scale back fatigue or pressure.
Alternatively, the laptop computer can detect when it’s not getting used after which shut its personal lid to stop undesirable customers from gaining entry. And whereas the Auto Twist’s AI tag feels a bit spurious, Lenovo hopes the laptop computer will be capable of do a lot of this stuff by itself or by easy pure language voice management (the laptop computer at present helps instructions to remodel into laptop computer mode, clamshell mode and extra).
After seeing it in particular person, essentially the most instant use case that got here to my thoughts was in POS (point-of-sale) fee terminals. Right here, staff typically must manually flip a display round in order that the client can see their complete or add in issues like a tip. Granted, the Auto Twist does appear to be overkill in that state of affairs contemplating how straightforward it’s to rotate a display across the old school manner together with your fingers a primary hinge. And no less than from what I noticed, the built-in motor wasn’t fairly as easy as you’d in all probability need for business purposes. However, it’s an fascinating concept with potential for high-end luxurious retailers.
Then there’s simply the enjoyable of it. Throughout my demo, I watched because the Auto Twist performed a clip of a dancer as its motorized hinge tried to make its show match the particular person’s actions. I additionally noticed the laptop computer swivel its show horizontally to current an ultra-wide panoramic picture in a extra participating manner. Moreover, whereas different bleeding-edge tech like laptops with foldable shows undergo from a ton of added weight and bulk, the rotating servo on Lenovo’s newest idea is comparatively unobtrusive and there isn’t a huge effect on the gadget’s total portability.
So whereas it stays to be seen how helpful the Auto Twist actually is or what it’d flip into down the road, I respect that Lenovo continues to be making an attempt to provide you with new methods to evolve the basic clamshell laptop computer.