One thing Lenovo excels at is demonstrating proof-of-concept devices and then turning them into full devices in future iterations. It showcases their imagination and also offers a glimpse into what might be powering next year’s devices. This year, Lenovo has really let its creativity shine, with multiple exciting proofs of concept to get us drooling over the possibilities!
ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept
First, Lenovo is expanding its rollable and foldable laptop designs with the ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept. This is taking the best of several Lenovo designs and mixing it into one intriguing package. It has an external-facing display as well as an expandable display, so you can show your numbers to your colleagues while also enjoying a much larger workspace in front of you.
Lenovo ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept
The ThinkPad Rollable XD Concept starts as an unassuming 13.3″ laptop, then like Clark Kent it whips off the glasses to become a super 16″ screen! 50% more real estate without taking up extra space in your bag. Lenovo worked closely with Corning to use Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so you’ll get durability with this engineering marvel that delivers a smooth, rollable experience.
Of course, Lenovo envisions this also including AI-driven live translation and voice assistant, as well as touch gestures and voice controls. You can easily request or gesture to swap apps and launch whatever you need on the fly, making work incredibly efficient and leaving you more time to interact outside of your screen! This is just a proof of concept, but it’s quite an exciting peek into what the future might hold.
Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable
And Lenovo didn’t forget gamers when it introduced its rollable designs. The Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable brings the expandable screen to the gaming sphere, with a screen that unrolls horizontally from each end, expanding from 16″ to 24″ of screen real estate. And because this is a gaming PC, the main screen is called “Focus Mode,” while the expanded 21.5″ is “Tactical Mode.”And when you’re about to compete and need every single pixel ready, there’s “Arena Mode” which pops it all the way out to 24″!
Lenovo uses a PureSight OLED Gaming Display for the screen, and the dual-motor, tension-based design offers low vibration and noise. They also envision low-friction materials to keep the screen clear and taut even as it expands and contracts. That’s key in any use case, but especially if you’re gaming and need every detail to be crystal clear.
The proof-of-concept rollable is based on the Legion Pro 7i, running Intel Core Ultra processors, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, and Lenovo AI Engine+, because a great screen needs a powerful computer to really show off its capabilities. It’ll be exciting to see this appear in future Legion releases!
Lenovo Personal AI Hub Concept
We’re all used to AI on our phones and devices that dial home to a nameless server elsewhere. Lenovo wants AI to be a bit closer to home with the Lenovo Personal AI Hub Concept. It’s two ThinkStationTM PGX compact AI workstations in a chassis with a touchscreen, meaning it’s AI that’s local to you. Lenovo calls this a “personal edge cloud device.” If you’re wondering what an “edge cloud device” is, it’s basically a hybrid cloud system where some of the computing power is closer to the “edge” of the network, like your home or office.
The result is that you have a connection that’s faster because the data doesn’t have to go as far, so you get faster and more efficient control over things like your smart home. It also means that the AI powering the Personal AI Hub gets the chance to learn more about you and your routines, really emphasizing the PERSONAL part! This has the potential to take home AI hubs to a new level, and it’ll be exciting to see where this idea goes in the next few years. Just don’t ask it to open the pod bay doors.
Lenovo AI Glasses Concept
If you look at the future trends in wearables, it’s clear that the next frontier is right in front of you, on your face. Smart glasses have come a long way from the old Google Glass design. Lenovo sees (no pun intended) that trend too, and they’re imagining that world through the Lenovo AI Glasses Concept. Lenovo is light on the specifics with these, and they haven’t described exactly what kind of heads-up screen they’re envisioning, but the idea is very much that your AI assistant is right in your line of sight.
The glasses would connect wirelessly to another device like your phone, and provide everything from a teleprompter to music to live translation. They’ll also offer image recognition, so Lenovo clearly sees a camera involved as well. With the “catch me up” feature, the idea is that you wake up, pop on your glasses, and can immediately skim what you’ve missed and what to expect from your day. The only thing the glasses can’t do to make your day run more smoothly is bring you a cup of coffee (yet!)
Lenovo Smart Sense Display Concept
Of course, you probably spend most of your day in front of a monitor. Lenovo thought about that too, and they’re showcasing some new ideas with the Lenovo Smart Sense Display Concept. It’s a 27in UHD display that can be connected via cables or wirelessly to a tablet, phone, or laptop, and supports multiple devices. There’s also a natural-language smart assistant, so you can verbally or via touch commands swap or pull up applications.
Lenovo AI-Powered Personalized Display Concept
And if that’s not quite enough, there’s also the AI-Powered Personalized Display Concept. This monitor is designed to support multiple users, so you can have your own profile of preferred settings, such as brightness and color temperature.
Lenovo AI-Powered Personalized Display Concept
It’ll also note your location, adjust the display to match the circadian rhythms of your area, and provide wellness monitoring for eye fatigue and posture. Your monitor just wants you to be happy. (Wait, wrong computer company!)
Lenovo Adaptable Keyboard Concept
Finally, for those times when you need to do more than just talk to your computing equipment, Lenovo has some new keyboard and mouse ideas. The Lenovo Adaptable Keyboard Concept has adjustable keystrokes so that it can be more responsive for gaming and more efficient for work typing. Or both, if you’re playing an important game of Doom for work. Lenovo knows you contain multitudes.
Lenovo Self-Charging Kit Concept
And if you’re sick of constantly hunting down batteries or remembering to charge your keyboard and mouse, Lenovo is working to further improve its natural-light charging accessories. The Lenovo Self-Charging Kit Concept features a keyboard and mouse that can charge in as little as a 50 lux room. And if you’re not a regular in the lighting section at Home Depot, 50 Lux is considered dim lighting. For reference, a typical office usually has lighting around 500 Lux.
Remember, these are all proof-of-concept, but they’re a hint at where Lenovo sees computing and accessories headed in the future. It’s all exciting stuff, and before we know it, we’ll all have smarter, expandable, and easily rechargeable devices!