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Comment by shinao | Hacker News Reader

I posted on reddit yesterday but didn't have much feedback, maybe I will have a better chance here : how would you guys have done it ? Do you have any idea for any new widget that I could integrate ?

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It would be nice if you could make the screen run Android, and put a shim layer in between, so the proper touch events would be delivered to Android. If you did that you'd have access to the full Android ecosystem, and you wouldn't have to make your own widgets.

That's a great idea ! Haven't thought of that, the only obstacles would be to find the proper gestures for tap/double tap and things like that, hm.

Maybe "Close fist" once for tap and twice for double tap. Close fist for more that a few ms to simulate a tap and hold.

Awesome build! If you are looking for some ideas for new widgets my blog would definitely spark some ideas. Mine ran windows 10, so I used a program called 'rainmeter' that just adds widgets to your desktop. I found music visualizers, candles, gifs, and google chrome experiments really cool.

[1] innate.cc

I think this is a really great POC. Do you have plans to create a real product around it?

I see a lot of potential in the whole "put a screen on the wall and interact with it" line of products, either through e-ink or - as in your case - with the one-way mirror/screen combo.

Totally agree. IoT has been a big missfire, but you could make a good argument for these kinds of products that don't change too much about the existing use (the mirror is still a mirror) but just add tons of cool IoT features.

I say you kickstarter it as an open-source backed product: produce and sell them in volume and publish the guides to make your own if you want.

Nope, I just wanted to see if I could make it. Biggest problem for this kind of stuff is the power source. I agree I can totally see an e-ink displayin my bathroom/hallway in the future.

Curious if there is information about assembling the hardware.

It would be great to get a tutorial on how to assemble the project and how to use the software. I am also curious to know where the camera was placed on the mirror. The NoIR cameras are quite "raw".

Didn't include any assembly tutorial since there is a lot of DIY Smart Mirror out there. You are right I'm gonna include an how to use the software right now. The camera is black taped behind the mirror so that we can't see it. Integrating into the frame should work too.

I acknowledge the technological feat, but could you tell us about your motivation? What is the place of a smart mirror ?

I'd replace the TV with a `smart mirror`.

The `mirror` would make the living room seem larger and the `smart` would improve the quality of the information provided.

That's what I thought. You can look at yourself while you browse cinema times?

Obviously having a new cool gadget was my big motivation, but for the useful things : knowing the exterior temperature, the time obviously (I removed my clock), I can play a game if I'm waiting for something for a few minutes, etc. But basically you are right, if I have my phone, it just takes almost as much time for me to do this things.

I think there is something to do around the concept of a smart mirror, because we have been introduced to many prototypes in last 5 years. It's like people want to have it, people want to build it, but no one is sure what it is about. Maybe it should be conceptualized more like a decoration/fashion item...

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