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Mirror Mirror
This interactive mirror helps elderly people that are lonely by providing them with an artificial interactive life coach and a digital social platform to connect to others.
December 01, 2019
Photos by Luizmedeirosph from Pexels
Mirror Mirror is a proof-of-concept design. It is an interactive mirror designed to help people who feel lonely, especially elderly, above the age of 65 years. Mirror Mirror contains an AI-coach/avatar that recognises the persons mood and can give positive coaching feedback to reduce negative emotions. It also encourage social contacts by linking users on a social platform.

The mirror has one-sided light permeable glass and monitor behind the mirror. The edge of the mirror contains a microphone and a speaker which allows for interaction with the user. At eye level there are two cameras, one on the left and one on the right, to allows unobstructed view on the users face. The whole edge contains LED-lighting that can give brightness up to 10 000 lux making it possible to apply light therapy. The camera, microphone, speaker, LED-lights and display are controlled by a Raspberry pi. The Raspberry pi has a connection to the internet via a Wi-Fi connection. The interactive mirror is linked to a server that makes it possible to develop all kinds of applications and services.

One of the most important applications is the recognition of people, facial expressions and gestures. This allows us to determine who is in front of the mirror and determine the user’s state of mind, using facial expression recognition. Gesture recognition can be used as the interface of the interactive mirror, to control menus and select objects. The microphone and speaker can be used to interact with the user, just like Siri or Alexa.

With this functionality, we can develop various services that can reduce the loneliness of elderly people. You could create an application that coaches people and gives feedback to get them a more positive self-image and give more self-esteem. Feedback can be given using spoken word, images or music. Another application is a kind of skype feature that allows the user to connect with other people who are lonely too or interact with their social worker.

Mirror Mirror is a proof-of-concept design. It is an interactive mirror designed to help people who feel lonely.