Video: Lenovo’s new laser projector smartphone concept

At last week’s Lenovo TechWorld event, the company gave an insight into several of its R&D projects.

Among the most exciting was its laser projector extension for smartphones, enabling the screen of a device to be projected onto a surface.

This in conjunction with gesture recognition technology enables the user to interact with the projection for functions including virtual piano playing and gaming.

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During a game of Fruit Ninja we found the projection surprisingly responsive, although there are clearly some kinks that need to be ironed out.

Among them seems to be the projection’s visibility in non-dark environments. As seen in the video, Lenovo has clearly made sure the room is dark enough for the virtual piano to be visible. Equally we do wonder how badly the projection, combined with recognition processing, would drain a device’s battery life.

These points aside, it is refreshing to see something that previously seemed only science fiction turned into reality and we do hope a genuine product does follow.

For now the design is just a concept, although Lenovo executives are quick to point out that the company’s Yoga Notebook was conceived in the same way. The Yoga line was in the works for years before being revealed at CES in 2012.