Chinese smartphone maker Lenovo is finally giving the people what they want: The ability to play “Fruit Ninja” on your kitchen table.
The company unveiled the Smart Cast concept phone with a wacky presentation at its Tech World conference in Beijing on May 28. Renowned concert pianist Lang Lang played around on a virtual keyboard projected by the phone, before playing on a real piano while the device acted as his sheet music.
But Smart Cast isn’t just for honing your virtual piano skills. According to Lenovo, “Users can transform their wall into a movie theatre to watch videos, give a presentation, or even play games like Fruit Ninja using hang gestures on the table or cast onto the wall.”
The smartphone uses a built-in “focus-free” laser projector and infrared motion detectors to get the job done. By “twisting” the phone’s lens, you can toggle it between standard projector mode, which beams your display onto a wall, to surface mode, which projects the screen onto a flat surface, like a desk or table. Here’s a demo:
This is, apparently, the first time such technology has ever been used in a smartphone. Samsung’s bulky Galaxy Beam smartphone is equipped with a built-in pico projector, but Lenovo’s appears to be the smallest and most advanced ever made.
Lenovo says the goal is to make smartphones perform more like PCs.”This first-ever technology combination opens a new world of interaction,” the company said in a news release.
There’s no word yet on price or a release date. Quartz has reached out to Lenovo for more information and we’ll update this story as it becomes available.
