Benefits Of Touch Screen Mirrors
Touch screen mirrors are a relatively new technology that has been
developed by a group of students at the University of Waterloo. Touch
screen mirrors are also known as Touch Screen Smart Mirrors and allow a
variety of technologies to be integrated within the mirror technology to
enable it to play music, video, and perform a variety of impressive
functions.
Touch screen mirrors serve a futuristic variety of different functions
through the use of an unobtrusive interface that provides controls for
various different technologies that are useful to everyday life. Let’
stake a look at some of the benefits of touch screen mirrors and some of
the ways they can be used to enhance activities that we do on a daily
basis.
Touch Screen Mirrors in the Home
Touch screen mirrors in the home can provide an ambient atmosphere
while allowing you to control personalized services and smart appliances
that are integrated into the touch screen mirror with a service oriented
and Web service communication infrastructure.
For example, face recognition technology automatically identifies the
person looking in the mirror and immediately provides the interface that
has been programmed by that user so they can access customized
information services and control specific household appliances.
Touch screen mirrors can also be used in the bathroom environment to
provide access to time, date, weather and news while you are performing
your daily grooming tasks. With the convenient “touch” technology you
can slide videos and other widgets to a place in the mirror that does
not obstruct your view while you are using the mirror.
Touch Screen Mirrors in Retail Establishments
Touch screen mirrors can provide an innovative experience in retail
establishments by assisting shoppers in making retail product
selections. The mirror technology eliminates the need for retail stores
to employ additional staff to assist the customer with making
selections. For example:
Optical Industry: Optical retail establishments are viewing the
touch screen mirror as a way to increase revenues by providing an
imaging device that allows the customer to configure a series of virtual
try-ons to choose an eyeglass frame that is best suited to their facial
shape.
Touch screen mirror technology will photograph the customer at different
angles which allows the customer to compare frame styles, as well as get
an idea of what they would look like in colored contact lenses. There is
also a printer included to provide customers with a take-home image to
allow them to tap into the opinions of others.
The unit stands about five feet tall and is slightly curved with a touch
screen mirror attached to the unit. It provides a built in camera and
offers a variety of lens choices with the option to view only the lenses
that are currently in stock.
Clothing Retail: A group of students at Carnegie Mellon
University created a touch screen mirror that is designed for dressing
rooms in clothing retail establishments. The mirror works with RFID
technology to provide suggestions to the customer on how to mix and
match different articles of clothing.
Each article of clothing contains a tag that contains an RFID chip which
communicates with an RFID sensor in the dressing room. When the sensor
reads the tags it creates images on the touch screen mirror of other
clothing items that will coordinate with the customer’s choices. The
mirror panel can also be configured to showcase the current trends in
clothing and can be updated as inventory changes
GPS Navigation: The touch screen mirror recently changed the face
of the conventional rear view mirror in your car with innovative GPS
navigation features and much more. The mirror is capable of performing a
lot of tasks that a personal computer does, functions as a portable
navigation system, and contains Bluetooth technology.
This type of touch screen mirror is known as a SmartMirror or Azentek
mirror and includes navigation assistance as well as an integrated
memory card, internal memory, touch screen monitor, Bluetooth hands-free
phone with caller ID, recording device, text to speech functions and
reality view for added guidance on the road. Some of the models also
include two video inputs to provide a rear-view camera that provides a
wide angle view when you put the vehicle in reverse.
Public Venues: Touch screen mirrors are being deployed in public
venues such as shopping malls, airports, and train stations to provide
people on the go with up to the minute access to the time, date, weather
conditions, and current events that are delivered through a Web-based
communications infrastructure. The touch screen mirror interface allows
the user to view the information they are looking for by selecting the
screen commands.
The touch screen mirror is very new to the technology market and the
developers are currently working on a way to add voice recognition
commands to allow users to operate the unit with their voice. As touch
screen mirrors evolve there will be many other interesting time saving
uses for this type of innovative technology