Arnold Schwarzenegger has been used to inspire Google’s new smart mirror.
Max Braun, a Google engineer who has previously worked on Google Glass smartglasses, has built a smart IoT mirror after observing a similar prototype in the Schwarzenegger film ‘The 6th Day’.
Braun said: “Sometime late last year I realised that I wanted my ordinary bathroom mirror to be more like the future we were promised in the movies. There doesn’t seem to be anyone selling the product I was looking for. The individual parts, however, were fairly easy to get.”
He used a two-way mirror, a display panel, a control board running Google’s Android operating system (OS), and Amazon’s Fire TV stick interface to create his ‘smart’ mirror.
The display panel is embedded between the two-way mirror glass layers, which is attached to the door of his medicine cabinet. However, it is still only a few millimetres thick, with all the wiring sitting behind the cabinet door.
This allowed him to read news from Associated Press’ RSS feed, get the time from the TextClock app, and check the weather whilst brushing his teeth.
Braun aims to develop the concept to include traffic updates, emails, and reminders which will update automatically. A voice search feature could also be added to save users from touching the mirror.
The product, however, is still just a prototype with no word from Google on whether or not they will mass produce and make it commercially available.
Braun said: “This prototype is still a work in progress and I haven’t spent much time on the software yet. I’m looking forward to realizing some of the remaining ideas.”
This isn’t the first time Google has used Arnold for inspiration, as last year he provided the voice for their navigation app, ‘Waze’.
A number of other companies are experimenting with the Internet of Things (IoT) and in particular looking at ways they can incorporate digital signage for smarter displays. For example, late last year, UK-based agency The Yard Creative launched a new project where they used an IoT signage display to make charity appeals more engaging.