New York Times ‘magic mirror’ brings email, news, Facebook into the bathroom

By Mike Flacy Published September 5, 2011

magic-mirror-split-screen — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Designed by the research and development lab at the New York Times, a team has been working on a mirror that delivers media content to the user while spending time in the bathroom. Likely utilizing a Phillips Mirror TV, the display is tied into a Microsoft Kinect sensor that sits at the top of the mirror. Using voice recognition and motion sensing from the Kinect, the television allows the user to browse through the latest news headlines in the New York Times as well as check a calendar for appointments, read email and take a look at the latest updates on Facebook or Twitter. The user can also check the weather, a helpful tool for anyone getting ready to leave the house for the day.

The mirror also have the ability to scan RFID tags and bring up information about a sample product. For instance, if you had a medication and were unclear of the proper dosage, holding it up to the mirror would supply this information as well as offer the ability to reorder the drug if it was acquired through a prescription. When it comes to online clothes shopping, the mirror used the Kinect camera to scan an image of a user’s body type and allows the user to overlay clothing items on the body image to virtually try on clothes before purchasing them.

Recommended Videos

While the mirror is currently still a prototype, facial recognition through the mirror would work easily with the Kinect system. It’s possible that a user could walk into a bathroom shared with multiple members of the family, but the facial recognition recognizes the user and automatically logs in to check email as well as work with home automation to dim lighting or heat the shower water to a specific temperature. This technology can also be used around the house and in public spaces to provide helpful terminals. Check out the video below:

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Topics

Emerging Tech

AI can’t tell if you’re gay or straight, but it thinks it knows what both look like

AI knows it shouldn't judge a face, but apparently, drawing one is a different story.

Emilia Clarke AI generated stock image. Gemini / Nano Banana is on the left

We've all been told not to judge a book by its cover, and you'd think AI would follow that rule, too. Ask an AI chatbot to guess someone's sexual orientation just by looking at their face, and it'll likely tell you that there's no reliable way to know. But what happens when you ask that same model to change someone's appearance to match a particular sexual orientation? Well, that's where things get uncomfortable.

A new study, accepted for presentation at the 2026 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, found that AI models from OpenAI and Google can be inconsistent when handling sensitive personal characteristics. They might refuse to make assumptions about someone based on their appearance, but when asked to generate those same assumptions visually, the results tell a very different story.

Computing

A clinical study with Google’s special chatbot shows a strong future for AI in healthcare

Google’s medical AI could give doctors a useful second set of eyes

Google Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer chatbot

AI is a useful tool for handling many tasks in private as well as professional settings, but medical advice, especially diagnosis, is one area where I generally draw the line. General-purpose chatbots tend to sound confident and convincing while giving medical advice, even when they are wrong, as studies have previously found.

That being said, Google's new research points to a much more convincing use for AI in healthcare. Its Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer chatbot, or AMIE for short, could help prepare both sides before the appointment even begins.

Emerging Tech

Relaxation music had one job in this pain study, and favorite songs did it better

Patients who chose their music reported less pain after an IV insertion

Book, Publication, Indoors

Patients’ favorite songs helped ease pain after an IV insertion in a new study, while music specifically chosen for relaxation didn’t show a significant benefit. The soothing soundtrack could apparently use a second opinion.

Researchers at University Hospital Zürich studied 204 patients receiving an IV cannula before an MRI scan. Those listening to their chosen music reported less pain 30 seconds and two minutes after insertion. Across the full sample, the clearest relief came after the needle went in.