Staring lovingly at your reflection in the mirror gets old, especially if it’s not a magical one that tells you you’re the fairest of them all. But what if all that time you already spend in front of a mirror could actually make you the most beautiful person in the land? Many smart mirrors already make this promise, but HiMirror is the first one you can actually buy, and it costs $189. The secret sauce comes in the form of a camera that captures your au naturel visage to analyze your complexion, before offering you tips on how to get better skin. I tried it out recently and was impressed by how many things it could do.
The 5.5-pound mirror is more cutesy than the futuristic thanks to its pink accents. It houses a 14-inch LCD screen and has a camera sitting in the middle of a ring flash, which helps light your face for better images. HiMirror snaps a picture of your face every day to analyze your wrinkles, dark spots, dark circles, red spots and pores. The idea is to track how your skin changes over time, and flag your so-called problems so you can take “early measures to improve upon your skin and achieve your beauty goals.”
During a recent demo, I stood in front of the mirror, carefully moving around to align my face with the onscreen outline, until the camera recognized me. HiMirror then took a photo and displayed how I had fewer fine lines and red spots than I did the day before (the system was comparing me to another person’s profile), but that my dark circles were worse. It then told me that I had to drink more water and sleep more, which, duh. It also told be not to be discouraged by my (self-proclaimed) terrible complexion. HiMirror pairs with an iOS or Android app so you can track your complexion on the go.
In addition, HiMirror will play tutorial videos on proper skin-care techniques (because there’s a right way to wash your face!), stream music from Spotify and show you the weather forecast and UV index for the day. You can also tell it the types of beauty products you use, so it can determine whether they’ve been effective in treating your target areas. Adding a product to what the company calls your “Beauty Box” simply requires holding up its barcode to the camera and scanning it. It’s not clear yet how many brands and products this feature supports, but most big brands are recognized.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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