Many of us have seen the “video” mirrors in some bars and restaurants that display advertisements to you as you check yourself out while washing your hands, but Japanese brand Seraku and Android are taking the experience to the next level. The Verge has spotted the “Smart Wash Basin” at the Smartphone and Mobile Expo in Japan and it sounds pretty, well, er, smart!
The prototype from the Japanese company displays information like the news and weather via a LCD monitor with a semitransparent piece of reflective glass laid over the top – giving the mirror effect. The tech behind the glass is an Android powered tablet and the glass uses a RF proximity sensor to detect where your hands are, thus avoiding smudging up the screen with your mitts. Although seen as people are now so accustom to touchscreens, we think that many people will still end up sloshing water on the glass as they check the headlines.
The device contains lots of information outside of browsing the news and weather, including your weight via a scale on the floor – perhaps to check how many pounds you’ve added after a hefty meal. Plus info on the water temperate and flow as you wash your hands.
A Seraku rep gave some hint on the potential uses for the smart mirror including replacing the worn two year-old magazine that grace hairdressers with the interactive display and also for filling out questionnaires in bars – a useful excuse for an unusually long bathroom visit.
Seraku is not the first to demonstrate a smart piece of glass, at this years CES Samsung revealed its prototype Smart Window. This displaying a number of applications including Twitter and Microsoft Office, using ambient light to fill a touch-controlled transparent piece of glass with the images.
Both devices are still in prototype, but one things for sure, pretty soon its not just ourselves we’ll be checking in the mirror.
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