As a Lenovo employee began presenting the lineup of products being unveiled at a closed-door briefing ahead of the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA Berlin), a journalist sitting next to me joked that it wouldn’t be IFA without a Lenovo concept device.
Just before the presentation ended, Lenovo revealed a proof-of-concept laptop with an auto-twist design, heavily reliant on algorithms and rotary motors. It offers a glimpse into a future laptop that rotates and spins the screen to face you, adapting to different scenarios. However, it’s just a concept, and Lenovo may or may not bring it to market.
I spent some time with the Lenovo ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC at IFA, and here are my first impressions.
A regular laptop with a twist
At first glance, it was hard to pinpoint what was different about this laptop. It’s a ThinkBook you’re familiar with, with the build quality and aesthetics that the iconic business line is known for. The laptop was lightweight and boasted decent specs, like Intel’s Meteor Lake processor and plenty of RAM. The display was high-resolution with an OLED screen, and the laptop featured a lot of AI integration. However, as soon as the Lenovo executive said, “Hi Twist, open the lid”, the laptop lid opened magically. The executive then used a similar voice command to close the lid without touching it, and the lid adjusted, moved forward, and shut. By that point, it was evident that this wasn’t an ordinary notebook. My mind was boggled as the executive further explored different modes.
The Lenovo ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC features a high-resolution OLED display. Its motorised rotation allows users hands-free operation and motion tracking for an immersive user experience. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
If you remember the Amazon Echo Show 10, which has a rotating display that follows you around, Lenovo’s Auto Twist AI PC is built on similar principles but is much more advanced and cutting-edge. When the executive first demonstrated the AI Twist PC, the laptop’s screen followed her. In other words, the moment you approach the laptop, it follows you and keeps moving until you stand directly in front of the screen. Even if you move a little, the screen adjusts to follow you. As I emulated the executive, the screen panned from left to right at about a 180-degree angle — the screen was able to recognise the shift in my movement.
The hinge mechanism on Lenovo’s ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC features a micro-motor technology that enables the screen to rotate automatically. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
I’m told the hinge of the laptop houses a micro-motor for dual-degree movement, allowing it to twist vertically 180 degrees and horizontally 270 degrees. I’d say the Auto Twist AI PC is pretty good at following me as I move from one point to another. Even better, the laptop screen can move 270 degrees and take a panoramic picture of everyone in the room. Pretty neat, I’d say. No wonder the camera’s motion-tracking feature has a lot of heavy lifting to do, but I just hope the camera doesn’t struggle to keep up with multiple people in the frame.
The motor is extremely quiet, and you won’t hear anything while it’s moving. Lenovo claims the screen can twist more than 20,000 times without an issue.
The advanced rotation technology is powered by micro-motors and AI algorithms which allow it to automatically twist 270 degrees horizontally and 180 degrees vertically. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
During the demonstration, Lenovo showed the many ways in which the Auto Twist PC can adapt to its surroundings and provide a completely hands-free experience. Although the appeal of a screen that twists and turns is interesting, it remains to be seen how third-party developers will use this capability to their advantage and design apps that leverage this unique screen concept. Right now, the appeal is mainly limited to video calls or executing specific actions. However, I must say it is very handy when you move around an area — like a kitchen, for example — and want to keep an eye on a recipe, or while watching the news.
A close-up of the micro-motor components used in Lenovo’s ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC. The precision-engineered parts enable the laptop’s advanced rotational and tilting capabilities. (Image: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Potential as a smart home hub
If you ask me what I make of the Lenovo ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC, I’d say that it is a work in progress. The reason isn’t the hardware but rather the compelling software features and potential use cases. The possibilities with this device are infinite. It heavily relies on algorithms and machine learning to determine how far it will move from left to right and back. It gets a lot right when it follows and tracks you around the room. It also automatically tilts the screen up, down, and backwards, and rotates at different angles. I can see the potential for the ThinkBook Auto Twist AI PC as a smart home hub. With features like a motorised touchscreen, motion-tracking camera, and automatic tilting, it could become an advanced tabletop home device that uses robotics to move the display around.
All said and done, it’s great to see that Lenovo at least thought outside the box to envision a laptop from a new perspective. Lenovo’s AI Twist laptop concept feels like the culmination of several cool technologies in search of a purpose.
(The writer is in Berlin adding IFA 2024 at the invitation of Lenovo)
