Lenovo's crazy Auto Twist concept has a screen that follows you around

It just wouldn't be a trade show without some wacky new concept from Lenovo. This time at IFA 2024, it's the Auto Twist AI PC, which as the name suggests, has a swivel on the hinge so the screen can turn around.

Not only that, but it's all automated, using AI.

Note: Lenovo sponsored flight, hotel, and meals for my trip to IFA.

A voice and camera controlled PC

While the laptop is closed, you can say, "Hi Twist, open lid", and the Lenovo Auto Twist opens up and wakes. Note that being a concept device that's probably not going to see the real world, the voice control was pretty limited. I made the mistake of saying "Hey Twist", and it didn't work.

Once it's up and running, it uses the camera for the screen to follow you around. If you're doing a presentation, you can make sure the screen, and any text you need to read, is facing you. It's pretty neat.

There are more voice controls as well. You can tell it to close the lid, go into tablet mode, and so on. You do have the option to use it as a regular old ThinkBook laptop, and when you're done, the lid will automatically close when you walk away.

Is this practical in real life? For most people, it's probably not. It's a concept PC, after all. And it's a true concept laptop, meaning Lenovo is probably never going to ship this in real life.

We see a lot of products that at least feel like concepts from Lenovo, one example being the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. It's a Windows laptop with a detachable display that turns into an Android tablet. With an Intel processor powering the laptop and Snapdragon powering the tablet, it certainly felt like a concept at CES, but you can buy one today for around $3,500.

I don't think we'll see the Auto Twist for sale, despite Lenovo's tendency to sell concepts at a "no one should actually buy this" price.