Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days, and it may not be restricted to your phone. It could soon be coming to your home appliances, including your mirror.
Your mirror may not tell you who’s fairest of them all, but it soon might be able to tell you a few other things — if your mirror is the Duo, that is. The AI-enabled, 27-inch smart mirror reportedly comes with built-in apps, its own app store, facial recognition, and natural language recognition. That’s not to mention multitouch capabilities, connectivity to smart devices, and multi-user support. So if you need a friend in the morning, you don’t have to talk to yourself in the mirror — just talk to your mirror.
Duo, which is already available for pre-order, has ambitious plans for its smart home device, including native apps that will tell you all about the day’s headlines, as well as play music (by way of the Spotify API). The company is also creating its own HomeOS platform, which is said to include lighting and temperature control for your whole house. There’s also talk of an independent app store that will host apps made specifically for the connected mirror, as well as voice-controlled apps for popular platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Giphy, so you can stay entertained while checking out your reflection.
But don’t get too excited too quickly about this mirror that sounds a bit too good to be true. Truth be told, it seems like it might be just that. First of all, while Duo says that it’s supported by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Duo itself doesn’t show up on the venture capital firm’s own website. Moreover, Duo’s impressive features list seems to be rather inconsistent. While a video released by the company suggests that the mirror has 10-point multitouch, its website says it has just five.
Of course, that isn’t to say that Duo can’t exist or that it’s surely a scam. After all, all big companies started somewhere. But if you want to be safe about this, you may want to wait until October, when the product is supposed to go into production, to determine whether or not it’s worth the $399 price tag.
