CES 2023: Lenovo Project Chronos concept unveiled with wearable motion capture technology

Lenovo unveiled its new Project Chronos concept at CES 2023, which is a new motion capture system that doesn’t require a dedicated wearable device. The new device is a prototype from the Chinese PC maker. According to the official description, Project Chronos is a “glasses-free, full-body movement-focused experience.” Simply put, users don’t need to wear specialized headsets/glasses or use motion capture-enabled controllers to use the technology. This is similar to recent announcements from Acer and Asus about glassless 3D solutions, but the focus here is on motion capture rather than 3D gaming.

According to the company, Project Chronos uses RGB depth cameras to simulate user actions in virtual reality (VR). Then the device outputs to an external display via DisplayPort or HDMI. Lenovo said Project Chronos would be HDMI compatible, despite the fact that its units lack specialized HDMI ports.

The concept device has three DisplayPort connections as well as four mini DisplayPorts. Chronos also has a twin 6W speaker system and a 180 degree swivel camera. Lenovo promises the device will make it “easier than ever for users to enter 3D-rendered virtual environments.”

The Lenovo Project Chronos is powered by an Intel Core i7 Raptor Lake series processor. It also includes a discrete GPU, up to 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of internal storage. The device runs Windows 10 and comes preloaded with an internal Chronos. This model weighs about 3.54 kilograms and measures 284 x 275 x 60.6 mm.

Unfortunately, this is still a concept device, so it’s unclear whether the company intends to release such a model in the near future. So it remains to be seen whether the Lenovo Chronos will fare better than the Microsoft Kinect.

Kinect is a line of motion-sensing input devices that were first released by Microsoft in 2010. Devices typically include RGB cameras, infrared illuminators, and sensors that trace depth either by structured light, or through time-of-flight calculations, which in turn can be used to perform real-time gesture recognition and body skeleton identification, among other features. They also include microphones for voice recognition and voice control.

Microsoft’s Kinect was originally designed as a motion controller peripheral for Xbox video game consoles, unlike competitors (such as Nintendo’s Wii Remote and Sony’s PlayStation Move) in that it did not require physical controllers.

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