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ASUS – once known mostly as a motherboard manufacturer – has chosen CES 2010 to introduce some innovative laptops and futuristic concepts.
Not content with showcasing a laptop designed in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen’s chief designer, it has also introduced three Waveface design concepts.

The range includes a portable device worn on the wrist, a widescreen display that is both an entertainment center and internet portal and a touch-sensitive machine that can be used as a single-screen tablet or conventional keyboard – all designed by ASUS to allow the user to fully embrace the digital life…perhaps even by using one’s own physiological and emotional state as a source of data. Well, I did say “futuristic concepts”.

ASUS’s aim is to use every element in a user’s environment, including for example, their emotional state, as a means to gather data that will deliver the right information and services at the right time. The first of the concepts is the Waveface Casa – it’s a widescreen display that can be used as an internet portal or an entertainment center. It sounds as though it’s designed to be incorporated into the modern home as, when it’s not in use, a flexible decorative cover obscures most of the screen. The remaining areas of the screen are used to display contextually-relevant information.

The Waveface Light is described as an interface to the cloud which has a touch-sensitive screen. It is backed by a soft, flexible material and can be used in a conventional screen-keyboard configuration or flattened to become a single-screen tablet.

Finally, the Waveface Ultra – a portable device designed to be strapped to the wrist and much like a smartphone will provide the user with access to information at anytime and in anyplace.

These concepts could become actual products within five years – sounds like when it comes to portable PC design - ASUS is well and truly looking into the future. (MD)