The Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC is the CRAZIEST thing I’ve seen at IFA 2024

Weird and wonderful gadgets and appliances are a staple of the IFA experience. While every manufacturer uses the trade show to showcase their latest ranges, many also take the opportunity to demonstrate just how far they’re able to push technology.

Lenovo’s Auto Twist AI PC, which is technically part of the brand’s ThinkPad line, is the best example of the latter that I’ve seen at this year’s show. This proof-of-concept laptop may look relatively run-of-the-mill from a distance but is capable of something rather bonkers. Its dual-rotation hinge can turn a full 360 degrees and move in ways I never thought a laptop could. That range of movement is where it gains its Twist title, but this being 2024, AI has a large part to play, too.

The Auto Twist AI PC can fully track its user’s movements, adjusting the screen automatically to keep you in shot if you’re on a video call or ensure you’re able to read your notes on screen as you nervously pace the stage presenting an important keynote. It can also be used to take 360-degree panoramic selfies if you want to capture both your own and your audience’s reactions to said keynote.

Thanks to support for what Lenovo describes as “natural language” voice commands, it’s able to open, close and rotate its lid on command and switch freely between laptop and tablet modes, too. Being able to tell a laptop to open and sit back and have it oblige is certainly not something I’ve experienced before. It had me reflecting on just how far the world has come since I was first exposed to groundbreaking tech in the form of the Nintendo Game Boy as a nipper in the 1980s.

A “Dancing mode” demo showed off just how flexible the Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC can be, with the display twisting, turning and rotating on its axis to vaguely mimic a ballerina pirouetting onscreen. It moves relatively slowly – my mind immediately went to an over-the-hill centre-back with knackered knees – but that’s just as well for the longevity of the hinge and in real-world use, you’d probably not want it moving too swiftly anyway.

For reference, the demo unit I saw was powered by an Intel H Series Core Ultra 7 processor backed by 32GB of RAM and with 512GB of NVMe M.2 storage. Its 13.3in OLED touchscreen panel had a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 and a stated peak brightness of 400 nits, while the chassis housed two 2W speakers and a 5MP camera. At just 1.27kg, it was nice and light to hold and the edge-to-edge keyboard was reasonably pleasant to type on.

Though an impressive flex of engineering muscle, one might reasonably ask if we really need our laptops to perform such acrobatics. The answer for a lot of people will likely be no. There are some practical advantages to the Auto Twist AI PC’s unique talents, however. I’ve mentioned a couple of them above – it will always keep you centred on-screen during meetings and you’ll always be able to view the display even if you’re moving around.

But it also has some helpful security and wellness applications. If the laptop detects that it’s been left unattended, it will automatically close the lid. Sadly, it can’t give potential thieves a slap around the chops, so you won’t want to leave it alone for too long, but the ability to keep your personal information safe from prying eyes is very welcome.

It will also promote ergonomic use by adjusting the display to ensure you’re maintaining a healthy posture while using it. Given I feel a bit like Quasimodo hunched over my keyboard while writing this, I’m all for such functionality.

As the Lenovo Auto Twist AI PC is just a proof of concept, there’s no telling when (or if) we’ll start seeing such laptops commercially available. Consumer appetite will of course be a key factor in this and based on the reaction of the crowd amassed at Lenovo’s IFA showcase, there was a great deal of interest. Granted, a lot of this was down to the device’s novelty factor, but there’s no denying that some of its practical applications could prove valuable too.