Telling Mirror


It seems like I am always reporting on how the mirrors of the future will be touch-interactive. This Through the Looking Glass mirror takes it one step further.

Designed by Romy van den Broek, this mirror allows children to experience an interactive fairy tale. If you have ever seen one of those interactive storybook iPad apps, then I am guessing that the experience is going to be quite similar.

Right now, they have it set up for Hansel and Gretel, and I am told that two kids can interact with the mirror at the same time. I wonder if they can take advantage of the mirror’s reflective surface, which would be the only difference between this an some sort of storybook app or interactive website.

The technology is done with a highly reflective LCD touchscreen display, and I suppose the idea is to imitate the magical mirrors that are seen in many stories. For example, Harry Potter’s Mirror of Erised, which I just realized is “desire” spelled backwards.

Right now, this is just concept technology, and I’m not certain whether parents would justify the purchase of one of these techno-magical mirrors for their own children. Perhaps one day we will live in an age where all mirrors will be like tablet PCs, and the functions of the Through the Looking Glass mirror will be just another App.

Source

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Change your bike’s gears, with your mind

Image
Lately, I have been teaching my son to ride a bicycle, and it reminds me of my days of awkward bike riding. I remember that I had a hard time with changing the gears, but what if I could do it with my mind? Parlee Cycles is apparently working on a concept bicycle made of carbon fiber that does just that. It is part of Toyota Prius Projects, and it uses a helmet equipped with neurotransmitters to read a wearer’s brainwaves. A wireless transmitter attached to the bike’s seat post gets the signal, and changes the gear. As you might of guessed, this is still a concept. In fact, the developer hasn’t quite got the brain control working and still using a smartphone for the controls. I have heard of neuro-controls being used before, but I am guessing the technology isn’t quite as good as Bluetooth. Still, I am wondering if putting a brain control on a bike’s gears is putting too much technology where it doesn’t belong. If we are going to electronically make a way for a
Read more

Wi-Fi Connected Power Strip

Image
If you are like me, you have “that desk” in your house that is sort of the hub for digital information. On the desk is a laptop or desktop computer, and all kinds of accessories. Chances are, all of these devices are plugged in to a power strip, and they are a source of great power consumption on your monthly electric bill. This power strip by Japan-based Ubiquitous is the iRemoTap, and it has a built-in Wi-Fi module. The purpose of the Wi-Fi is so it can send information to connected devices in the household. The iRemoTap can automatically send out some sort of message like an email or tweet so you know how much energy that you are consuming. In fact, you can program this thing for a preset level, so you can make energy goals and hopefully keep them. I guess you will have to know what levels your devices have, of course. I don’t really know that off the top of my head. So is this the wave of the future? All of us knowing how much power we consume and making
Read more

iMM514 ArtStation Pro

Image
I’ve seen some products from iLuv before, and the iMM514 ArtStation Pro is good for turning an iPad into a home theater. As you can see, the iPad is mounted in an articulated swiveling arm so you can position it at whatever angle you want, in landscape or portrait mode. In case you are wondering why there is such a big base, it is because it has a huge stereo speaker. In other words, this base has bass. There is also a wireless remote for volume and skipping tracks, and it looks like there are some controls on the base for when you lose the remote. As I mentioned before, iLuv has put out a lot of Apple accessories, and I will have to admit that this is one of the most unusual that I have seen. In fact, I am not even sure what kind of aesthetic that this is. The arm thing reminds me of Technic Lego pieces. I suppose the case is like a big Lego brick without and studs on it. Nice. By the way, this isn’t just for the iPad. The iMM514 ArtStation Pro is compatible
Read more