If you've ever listened to music while getting ready for work, you might appreciate ICON.AI's new SOUND MIRROR, which was announced this week at CES 2022 where it won an innovation award.
As the name suggests, SOUND MIRROR is both a full-sized bathroom mirror and smart speaker, or as ICON.AI calls it, an "Acoustic Mirror." Available in a circle or horseshoe design, it looks like a large, traditional mirror, aside from what appears to be a speaker grill that occupies the bottom quarter of the mirror face.
While most installations will position that grill at the base, SOUND MIRROR can be installed with it in a vertical configuration.
SOUND MIRROR is designed to be hands-free. You connect it to your home WiFi and use Alexa Voice services to request music from your favorite streaming services (assuming you have a subscription), access podcasts, check on news, weather, or set alarms. You can also use it to control other smart devices in your home. It might be a good time to install a pair of smart lights on either side of the bathroom mirror.
The mirror is also Bluetooth compatible, allowing you to stream music directly from your phone to the device.
You don't have to worry about all that delicate circuitry in your wet, muggy bathroom. SOUND MIRROR is IPX6-rated, which makes it virtually waterproof.
ICON.AI is hardly the first company to merge mirrors with AI. A few years back at CES 2018, Kohler introduced a line of smart bathroom products that included its Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror. It let you use Alexa to control the mirror's lights and other smart devices in the home. ICON.AI may have missed an opportunity, not including lights in its own mirror.
SOUND MIRROR, which comes in four different finishes (gold, chrome, matt black, and matt white), follows the growing trend of technology looking like or integrating with home furnishing (See gallery OLEDs that look like paintings, TVs that hang from shelves, and chairs with built-in charging pads or speakers). The idea is that technology can blend into the background. The voice-activated smart mirror could also hang in your living room, den, or at a hotel or restaurant.
As for sound quality, ICON.AI promises "high-quality, impactful sound," but offers no details on drivers, tweeters, or sub-woofers.
The SOUND MIRROR is one of the many interesting innovations coming out of the CES annual tech show, with many other quirky products unveiled before or during the event, and we'll bring you all the cool gadgets you need to know about.
