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Don’t you just hate the mad
dash in the mornings?! Rushing between checking the traffic
reports, watching the latest weather predictions, brushing your
teeth and getting ready to leave…why not put all that to one
side and make morning better with the Mirror TV from Philips;
bringing a new online dimension to your bathroom mirror.
Mirror TV in essence is an LCD display integrated into a mirror,
which means that you could surf TV channels, the internet or
even view your blood pressure while brushing your teeth or
styling you hair, or just admire your reflection.
 To ensure that when the TV part of the mirror is switched off
you get a good reflection, the LCD part of the mirror has been
coated with a special film which allows almost all light through
[for the mirror], or none at all [for watching the TV]. Coming
in sizes from 17 inch up to 30-inch screen, it’ll bring
innovation, connectivity and convergence to your home.
Our reflective wall wonder is the first commercial product to
come from our HomeLab, a facility that lets people interact with
new products and feedback to us to ensure we bring you what you
want, when you want it.
 While we see the Mirror TV first being used in hotels as a
method of quick bill payment as well as a superb quality TV or
monitor, we see a wealth of opportunities for the home of
tomorrow.
Which is why we’re currently testing more advanced versions that
come complete with Internet and TV connections, as well as being
able to provide you with health data via wireless connections
with healthcare devices such as your bathroom scales. Mirror TVs
offering all of this should become available in 2005.
Being able to reroute your drive to the office to avoid the road
works while checking the weather and shaving at the same time?
That’s definitely a possibility worth reflecting on.
What is the Philips HomeLab?
We created our HomeLab a year ago to test our new technology
prototypes in the most realistic setting. Located in the
Netherlands, HomeLab looks and feels like a regular home with
modern furniture in every room, Van Gogh prints on the walls,
and even a fully stocked kitchen. Temporary “residents“ can stay
at the facility for anywhere from four hours to two weeks,
depending on the type of research being conducted. During their
residence, individuals or families go about life as usual, while
interacting with the new technologies Philips has installed in
the facility.
The facility is essential in speeding up the time-to-market for
technological innovation. HomeLab puts the consumer at the
center of the product development cycle by evaluating how
individuals interact with new technologies. Depending on their
behavior, the researchers may decide to re-tool the prototype,
scrap the concept or move ahead in the product’s development.
More information:
+ Pictures on Mirror display
+ A mirror display in an intelligent personal-care environment (pdf-file;
67 KB)
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