First it was a see-through TV, now it’s a crystal-clear laptop: It appears transparency is the next big thing in tech.
Lenovo unveiled what it claims is the industry’s first transparent laptop at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday. Nicknamed Project Crystal, the new ThinkBook features a 17.3-inch micro LED display that is both borderless and see-through. The digital keyboard is also transparent. The next-gen machine is just a concept at this stage but points to the future of portable computers.
“With our latest hardware and software solutions including a futuristic transparent display laptop concept unveiled at MWC, we continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Lenovo exec Eric Yu said in a statement.
The laptop features the same micro LED technology as the see-through Samsung TV that debuted at CES earlier this year. Lenovo says the tech offers many advantages in the development of transparent displays. Most notably, the screen can hit a max brightness of 1,000 nits—roughly double that of the latest Apple MacBooks—to ensure excellent visibility indoors and out. It also promises high color saturation and exceptional contrast. (As the technology improves so, too, will things such as color accuracy and transmittance.) At the same time, the transparency allows the screen to blend seamlessly with its surroundings.
Lenovo says the best part about the new ThinkPad is its ability to combine the virtual with the physical using “Artificial Intelligence Generated Content.” Essentially, the laptop can capture images via its camera then overlay digital information on the pictures and showcase them on the transparent screen.
Project Crystal will also revolutionize interaction and creation, according to Lenovo. Users can easily switch between the touchscreen keyboard and drawing board with a supported pen, meaning you can go from typing to sketching in a snap. As the screen is fully visible to those around it, people could also peruse your work in a meeting, for instance. Lenovo is working on adding an opaque privacy layer to the screen that users could toggle on for a more incognito experience.
Project Crystal is still a ways from production, but it does show that the transparent trend is gaining momentum. Who knows, we could get a see-through smartphone next.
