This guy has a built-in Google Now display in his mirror and it’s perfect

It’s pretty hard these days to come up with an original idea. The internet is flooded with real, conceptual and on-the-way products that fill nearly every void in our lives. Evidently, for a guy named Max Braun, he found a need that couldn’t be met. After setting out to find a better bathroom mirror, he came to the conclusion that this product category has largely been untouched by the Internet of Things.

So what did he do? He built a pretty sweet two-way mirror with a built-in display that shows the latest info from Google Now. With a mixture of Android and assorted APIs, he found his way to a surprisingly polished product. More details and a gallery below.

First off, kudos to Max for pulling off this very impressive feat. Even with the necessary skills to put together a project like this, the level of finish and refinement is noteworthy. You can find more details on the build at his site but we’ll give you a general overview of the ingredients needed. Aside from the two-way mirror, Max used a display panel and controller board to handle the work behind the scenes. A controller and some simple arts and crafts tools complete the setup.

The display is embedded into the two-way mirror so that it’s nearly indistinguishable from the rest of the glass. This setup allows for Max to still have access to this medicine cabinet behind the mirror. On the backside is the controller and brains of the operations, a power supply and wires running to the power button located on the front.

Initially, the mirror can display the weather outside and a live look of the AP’s RSS feed. The display can replicate colors but most of the information is largely text-based. Max notes that a color-heavy UI would be distracting and turn the mirror into a screen. For now, he’s working with additional widgets like traffic and reminders. Anything with a Google Now card is up-for-grabs. Initially the system was run by a Chromecast but has since evolved with a Nexus Player and Fire TV Stick. Each offers a different feature set that comes in handy for a variety of reasons.

Perhaps the coolest feature is the ability to summon Google Now at your convenience. The ability to call up information whenever needed while getting ready for the morning is an intriguing feature. Just imagine shaving and asking Google about your day, sports scores and more. Sure you can do this with a product like Amazon Echo, but seeing it on your mirror brings a whole different level of coolness.

Head over to Max’s post at Medium for more details on his setup and how you can build one for yourself.

Source: Max Braun/Medium 

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