A company called Expanscape has created the most Inspector Gadget-like device I’ve ever seen. It’s a laptop prototype called the Aurora 7 (a working title) and attached to its humongous black chassis box are six additional displays that extend in every direction away from the main screen, each showing its own windows and applications.
Many laptop hinges don’t gracefully manage one computer, let alone seven. Piggybacking on the main 17.3-inch 4K display are three other screens of the same size and resolution. There is a single, seven-inch 1200p monitor above the left and right displays. You’ll also find another 7-inch 1200p touchscreen display mounted on the rest of the wrist. The prototype weighs about 26 pounds and is 4.3 inches thick. It has an imposing, intimidating presence, and I haven’t seen it in person.
Even though it’s designed primarily to be a mobile security operation station (and stay plugged pretty much all the time), it may be able to run some games, too. In his writing of this gadget, Gizmodo found that his current prototype could last only one hour before the battery cries for more juice, which is frankly longer than I expected. It uses a secondary 148Wh battery only to power its additional screens, and that’s beyond the FAA’s legal limit to fly in a plane. Expanscape says it works to fix this in upcoming prototypes. In other terms, the company is committed to allowing you to take a seven-screen laptop to the plane. You’d probably have to buy a whole row of seats for the space you need to use it, though. (If you read this in the future, please take a photo of one of these if you see it on your plane.)
Sure, the Aurora 7 looks more rough around the edges than Razer’s triple-screened Project Valerie laptop from a few years ago. But nevertheless, Expanscape claims it’s willing to actually sell this thing, which is more than Razer can say about its Valerie concept. If you want to buy one, Expanscape says it can help interested parties in reserving a prototype of its upcoming revision. As for the price, the company will ask you to sign a nondisclosure agreement, prohibiting you from publicly sharing the cost. That doesn’t bode well for the bank account.
I’m looking forward to hearing more about potential Aurora 7 revisions, particularly if it gets a button that makes all the displays pop up in a comical fashion. It seems like an incredibly manual operation at the moment.
