Everything and anything is now connected and we were expecting the bathroom would remain protected from the invasion of connectivity and the constant influx of information that goes with it… well, no.
Today, HiMirror is born to provide people with the best information about their skin status in real-time. Basically, the device is a large (11” x 16.5” ) humidity resistant tablet, that runs Android, with a reflective coating on the display and a webcam mounted at the top. For enhanced security there is a mechanical cover that you can turn to prevent potential hackers to seeing you in the shower.
You interact with HiMirror via voice commands and gesture, the user interface is friendly although the responsiveness when you browse menus could be slightly better.
The demo was pretty impressive, since in a few minutes you get a very detail report on your skin, with the exact locations and status of red spots, dark spots, wrinkles, dark eye circles, wrinkles, pores, fine lines and complexion. At the end, you get a summary in a form of a graphic and the software provides tutorials to take care of your skin.
When it comes to privacy, the company assured that, although you need to setup a username with an email address to login in your account, when you need to interact with HiMirror, the login is done only with facial recognition, and you can choose that the data collected during those sessions will not be linked to your account (opt-in when the account is setup). Since I have not tried the account setup, I did not check this information myself.
Thanks to the mounted camera, you can scan your beauty products bar codes to feed your virtual “Beauty Box”, so the system knows what type of care you currently apply to your skin, and can provide feedback and tutorials. Today, there are no partnerships with skin care brands, but New Kinpo Group, the company behind HiMirror, will develop that part of the business later on.
HiMirror works also with a body analyzer, the Smart Body Scale, that you can buy separately, and cover with a fury rug partially made of connective threads. The data collected is displayed almost instantly on the smart mirror and is very detailed.
HiMirror comes in two flavors, the regular model cost $189 and the high model is priced at $259 and comes with multi-ambiance makeup light, in the form of LED lights placed on both sides of the tablet (I did not see that version). Both versions will be available on October 17th from HiMirror.com. The Smart Body Scale will be available for $79.
Hands-on Article in progress, stay tuned, demo video coming…