Lenovo has a lot to show off at Mobile World Congress this week, but the most interesting reveal might be a laptop with a transparent display. It’s still just a concept product for now, but it’s definitely an impressive feat of engineering.

The Lenovo ThinkBook Transparent Display Laptop Concept, also nicknamed “Lenovo Crystal,” is a proof of concept device for a laptop with a 17.3-inch Micro LED transparent display. Lenovo thinks a transparent screen might be useful for overlaying information for real-world objects, like the augmented reality capabilities of the Meta Quest 3 or Apple Vision Pro. The keyboard area is also transparent, without physical keys or a clearly-marked trackpad area.

Lenovo said in a blog post, “Through the power of Artificial Intelligence Generated Content (AIGC), the transparent screen opens up new avenues of work collaboration and efficiency by enabling the interaction with physical objects and overlaying digital information to create unique user generated content. The transparency allows it to effortlessly integrate naturally within its environment. Users can seamlessly switch between the keyboard and drawing board with a supported pen, unlocking new levels of creative efficiency. AI in combination with transparent displays will open up new ways of engaging with data and applications, offering opportunities to develop new features and form factors.”

The Micro LED screen in this concept device has a maximum 1,000 nit brightness and “high color saturation,” which Lenovo claims is great for both transparent overlays and typical non-transparent computer tasks. The edge-to-edge panel looks pretty cool, too.

There’s no telling when, or if, this could become a real device. The transparent screen might not work all that well for regular use, and the lack of physical keyboard keys is going to slow down typing. If it does become a real product, there will probably be at least a few changes. Lenovo is no stranger to selling weird high-tech devices, though—the company released a folding ThinkPad back in 2020.

Lenovo also revealed a few actual products at MWC, including a portable USB-C touchscreen monitor and an upgrade-friendly ThinkPad. Those don’t have transparent screens, though.

Source: Lenovo Blog