Several years ago Google [1] X engineer Max Braun published a medium post on a smart mirror he made and now he’s back with a new version that’s smaller and smarter. This is a smart mirror [2] I can get behind though I still find smart mirrors completely frivolous.
He published his project on Medium[3] where he explains the process and the parts a person would need to build their own. This isn’t a project for everyone, but Max gives enough instructions that most enterprising builders should be able to hack something similar together.
I recently reviewed a smart mirror[4] and found it a bit silly but still useful. Ideally, like in Max’s smart mirrors, the software is passive and always available. Users shouldn’t have to think about interacting with the devices; the right information should be displayed automatically. It’s a balancing act.
At this point, smart mirrors are little more than Android [5] tablets placed behind a two-way mirror. Retail models are expensive to be buy and hardly worth it since a person’s phone or voice assistant can probably provide the same information. After all, how many devices does a person really need to tell them the weather forecast?...
References
- ^ Google (www.crunchbase.com)
- ^ mirror (www.crunchbase.com)
- ^ published his project on Medium (medium.com)
- ^ I recently reviewed a smart mirror (techcrunch.com)
- ^ Android (www.crunchbase.com)