You’re woken up by your buzzing alarm. Still groggy, you get off the bed and shuffle to your washroom. Even as you begin brushing your teeth, your mirror comes alive and gives you the day’s news, weather, and your notifications. What’s more, you use it to connect to your coffee maker and toaster to have your breakfast ready by the time your shower is done.

It’s understandable if you think the above description is from a science fiction novel or TV show. But what was showcased at CES in Las Vegas this year is as close to it as it gets. Smart mirrors are coming, and they promise to change the way you view your bathroom visits.

Griffin Technology, one of the companies to showcase a smart mirror at the show, also has other home products like toasters, which can be controlled using its smart mirror, called the Connected Mirror. It comes with an app that lets users customise the information and notifications displayed on the mirror. All this information disappears when the mirror isn’t active, leaving it looking like a shining beaten sheet of silver on the wall.

Personal beauticians

Not just Griffin, but other tech companies too had their mirrors on the wall at CES. The HiMirror Plus, another such offering, scans your face and gives you details about your skin and how healthy it is. It tracks changes in your skin with different skincare or beauty products, tells you if you have wrinkles, and also rates each part of your skin on a scale of 100. The mirror that Snow White’s stepmother asked “Who is the fairest of them all?” doesn’t seem fiction, anymore.

Here in India, HelpMeBuild Technologies in April introduced its smart mirror under its Internet of Things (IoT) brand Nuovo. This smart mirror also comes loaded with a host of functions such as updates, news, YouTube streaming, and can even let you book a cab on it. Armed with WiFi connectivity and its own mobile app, users can control its functionality.

But will such a product find a ready market in India? The Founder and CEO of HelpMeBuild, Prasoon Shrivasatava, seems to think so. Speaking to BusinessLine , he said that Indian and West Asian markets have a potential of $16 Billion for such a “Lifestyle product”. The Nuovo smart mirror is to “create a more personalised experience for the millennial and Generation-X homeowners,” Shrivasatava said, insisting that the product is not meant to replace tablets or smartphones and focuses on home automation and the personal assistant space.

Multiple functions

“The personalised experience is enhanced with the integration of Artificial Intelligence in the mirror, which over the period of time shall be integrated with other IoT-based home automation devices from Nuovo,” he said. The company also plans to use the smart mirror in commercial applications such as the fashion retail and hospitality industries.

“Users can choose clothes from smart mirror installed in the changing rooms where information such as pictures of clothes, prices, sizes is displayed. Once chosen, the same will be delivered to the changing room and can be tried by the customer,” said Shrivasatava. “Once finalised, customers can move directly to the cashier for payments and take the package. This would save a lot of time”. In the hospitality industry, he said that smart mirrors can be installed in guest rooms to display food options, hotel events, etc.

However, the niggle for smart mirrors becoming commonplace may lie in the price. The Griffin Connected Mirror showcased at CES sets one back by $1000. That’s about ₹64,200. HelpMeBuild’s Nuovo carries a heftier price tag starting at ₹2,59,999 for a 24-inch screen, going all the way up to ₹5,79,999 for a 55-inch screen.

Will the smart mirror become as widely used and accepted as smartphones and wearables? It’s too early to tell, but it sure is an interesting product to watch out for.

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