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CES 2019: Looking to the Future
Lane Long posted on January 16, 2019 | Comment
Vanity or Productivity? Or Both?
Take the Google Assistant-optimized smart mirror from Capstone Connected Home. The mirror—with which most of us spend at least a few minutes every morning—is perhaps the least obvious candidate for AI enablement of any object common to 21st century homes. It offers and requires no adjustment or manipulation, doesn’t become more or less useful with adjustment, and is entirely stationary.
Capstone’s vision for its AI-equipped mirror, however, involves taking advantage of those very same characteristics to unlock value.
Capstone is bringing AI-enabled voice technology to a highly visible product. (Image credit: CNET.)
Capstone is bringing AI-enabled voice technology to a highly visible product. (Image credit: CNET.)
Equipped with a touchscreen that Capstone expects will help people make more productive use of their time getting ready, the mirror can be used in the same way as any other voice assistant. However, the Capstone mirror also doubles as a communication device in the same vein of a smartphone or laptop. Users can toggle between various Google accounts, stream videos, send messages, and set meetings—all while brushing their teeth.
What’s most important about the mirror, though, is the larger trend it exemplifies: an ever-increasing number of access points to our artificially intelligent assistants, and a diminishing likelihood of being disconnected at any point during the day.
