Mirror TV offers a window on another world
In the children's classic Through The Looking-Glass, author Lewis Carroll continues the adventures of the young heroine of Alice In Wonderland. Alice passes through a mirror and finds herself once more in an enchanted world.
About 130 years after the Alice sequel was published, Royal Philips Electronics has taken the novel's literary device - using a mirror as a window on another world - as inspiration for its Mirror TV. The new product line combines the Dutch firm's expertise in display technologies with broadband Internet links.
The Mirror TV provides a selection of a 17, 23 or 30-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) integrated into a mirror. Using touch control, voice commands or a personal identification system, the mirror can show or hide the TV and Web interface as the user sees fit.
A 'polarised' mirror technology transfers close to 100 per cent of the light through the reflective surface, allowing the light from the embedded LCD to pass through the mirror, thus preserving the functionality of both the mirror and the display.
Philips unveiled the Mirror TV in June, based on prototype experiments at its HomeLab research facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Commercial versions of the product were exhibited in Berlin last month at the biennial Internationale Funkaustellung fair, Europe's biggest consumer electronics show.
As the world's largest supplier of TV sets to the hotel industry, Philips initially plans to sell the Mirror TV to hotels, but sees a market in people's homes.
The Mirror TV offers a range of functions beyond TV programming. In a hotel, for example, it can be used to pay for bills or pay-per-view movies. It can also be used as a desktop PC. A user can link a laptop to the Mirror TV with a special connector that enables the mirror to become a PC monitor.
Because of its form, the Mirror TV is ideal for non-traditional viewing spaces when it is installed flush to the wall as a centrepiece. For the ever-shrinking spaces in hotels and retail environments, the design hides the electronics while providing an architecturally refined display.
For home use, Philips has designed more advanced versions that connect the user to a high-speed, wireless local area network. The Mirror TV can then provide everything from news to traffic reports and health data, such as blood pressure or weight. It can also display cartoons programmed as teaching aids for children, such as showing them how to use a toothbrush and look after their teeth. No prices have been announced as the initial Mirror TVs for selected hotels will be custom-built. Home versions will be released by 2005.
Philips Mirror TV
Specifications
Price: Not available
Pros: Fix your makeup and check the weather at the same time
Cons: May induce narcissism
