Lenovo dazzled MWC 2024 with its 17.3-inch transparent ThinkBook, a futuristic concept met with skepticism by experts despite the company's bold vision for the future of displays.
"I don't see any real-world need for a transparent laptop display," Paul Thurrott, journalist and author, told TechTimes in an interview. "This feels more like demoware, which is naturally interesting to tech enthusiasts but has few valid use cases with mainstream users."
Beautiful but Impractical?
Esther Payne, privacy advocate, and community manager at the Librecast Project, couldn't help comparing the laptop to mobile phones that need after-market products to protect their screens. She said this alone makes laptops with transparent screens impracticable for real-world use.
"I think as a concept a transparent display is a bad idea that sounds like a good idea," Payne told Tech Times in an interview.
Our experts' most significant issue with the transparent display was the lack of visual privacy and how it could facilitate shoulder surfing. "Laptops are designed to be portable. People take them to work in coffee shops, and there's an expectation of some form of privacy," said Payne. "If you are having a Zoom call, you are also infringing on someone's privacy with that concept."
Martin Morrison, founder and tech specialist at How Things Work, has seen the idea of transparent displays pitched at mobile phones in the past, and he struggles to see their benefits.
"I can think of many other things I would like to see instead of a transparent display," Morrison told Tech Times in an interview. "You can guarantee this will draw so much attention in public. Do you really want this many eyes looking at your screen?"
Grabbing attention is what this is meant for, said Payne. Looking at it as another form of conspicuous consumption, Payne thinks the transparent display laptop would only appeal to a specific demographic who wishes to be public and to demonstrate when they are public.
"It's a concept very symptomatic of our always-on, always-public tech world, which consists of a fairly privileged demographic that doesn't value privacy," said Esther.
Far fetched
While it might not be practical in its current form, experts believe the device can be refined to work out the ills.
James McQuiggan, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, believes the evolution of transparent displays will need to address privacy concerns using innovative design and intelligent software solutions.
"As with any emerging technology, balancing the benefits of innovation with the need for privacy and security will be critical to its successful and responsible adoption," McQuiggan told Tech Times in an interview.
Drilling into specifics, Heather Delaney, managing director at Gallium Ventures, says the biggest challenge that transparent screens must address is visibility. She believes the screens should have a variable brightness level for the user to see the display clearly under different lighting conditions.
"I would like to see these devices have the ability to change modes between a transparent and nontransparent display before I would expect consumer interest to really pick up," Delaney told Tech Times in an interview.
To be fair to Lenovo, the company did mention there's more to this laptop-of-the-future besides the transparent display. In their MWC 2024 presentation, Lenovo said the device has a rear-facing camera that uses AI to identify objects behind it and put them on the screen for users to interact.
That use-case resonates with Delaney. In the long term, transparent displays could help users visualize real-time changes to or highlight specific features in an existing environment. She thinks this could help surgeons, engineers, and artists. "Eventually, we may see technology like this become so ubiquitous that it is incorporated into the windows of homes and businesses and even our cars," said Delaney.
While Lenovo says the AI helps unlock new use cases, McQuiggan believes the AI could also help address some of the privacy concerns.
"There is a possibility that AI-driven content generation and display technologies could selectively obscure or anonymize displayed information based on the viewer's perspective or the laptop's surroundings, leveraging the display's unique properties to enhance privacy proactively," said McQuiggan.
Varun Krishnan, editor-in-chief of FoneArena, tinkered with the laptop at MWC. He tells us that while he was mighty impressed by the computer, transparent screens aren't ready for use yet.
"I think transparent displays in their current state won't see much utility in a laptop," Krishnan told Tech Times in an interview. "But as we move more towards spatial computing and AR, transparent or dynamic displays on your VR headset, phone, tablet, or laptop might make more sense in the future."
About the author: Mayank Sharma is a technology writer with two decades of experience in breaking down complex technology and getting behind the news to help his readers get to grips with the latest buzzwords and industry milestones. He has had bylines on NewsForge, Linux.com, IBM developerWorks, Linux User & Developer magazine, Linux Voice magazine, Linux Magazine, and HackSpace magazine. In addition to Tech Times, his current roster of publications includes TechRadar Pro and Linux Format magazine. Follow him at https://twitter.com/geekybodhi
