Lenovo's 'Magic View' smartwatch concept hides a private display
Smartwatches, you know the drill: a touchscreen display, and it feeds you notifications and stuff. Pretty boring, right? Lenovo agrees, so has cooked up a "Magic View" concept to show things don't need to be this way. The problem Magic View solves is simple: the small displays inherent in watches. The answer? A small, second screen in the strap that initially appears cosmetic, until you hold it to your eye. Once you do, you'll see an image the company claims is 20 times larger than the watch's main display. Lenovo says it's using "optical reflection" to achieve this, and that the second display can be used for viewing maps, looking "around" images (using the accelerometer in the watch we gather) and even viewing videos -- should you be ok with holding your wrist to your eye to do so.
The prototype was on show at Lenovo's Tech World show in Beijing, and bares more than a passing resemblance to a Moto 360 -- hardly surprising. Android Central say that the demo device was running an Android-based OS that was different to both Wear and Google's main mobile operating system. The second display might seem a little goofy at first, but Lenovo is likely pitching it as a security feature, too. Given that only you can see what's on the second screen, it's ideal for private viewing, or showing notifications you don't want the person next to you catching. Given that Lenovo also showed some smart shoes, that display your mood on a screen, the Magic Eye doesn't seem so crazy after all?
