Since Grace asked me how to make it easy for more people to use computer, I have been thinking a computing device that is a mirror on the wall when it goes into sleep. This toy of mine would be probably named iMirror if made by Apple, SmartMirror by HP, StudioMirror by Dell, LiveMirror by Microsoft, VaioMirror by Sony, or GMirror by Google, but for me, let’s call it the Magic Mirror (MM), so that Snow White might use it against the evil queen.
The MM hangs on the wall quietly for most of the time. It’s being charged silently by a wireless charger, similar to the one you use to charge your toothbrush. It makes update quietly to the content cache on its solid state drive (SSD) through wifi, receiving data from a network storage device and the web (optional: fall back on a mobile network).
Unknowing all the things going on inside, its master (my mom) walks to the MM and wakes it up: “芝麻开门吧” (open sesame). The hidden webcam scans her face and recognizes the master, instantly fade in a polite servant (one of those Flash movie loops). The servant is pretty smart, figuring out that she understands Chinese only. According to the time of the day (7am), he guessed she probably wants to know the weather, direction, and traffic for the event planned ahead.
He even remembers to praiser her in a flattering tone: “wow, you look very healthy after working on the garden yesterday!” Then put on a stylish hat on her with augmented reality, probably from one of the department stores nearby.
However, she decided to wake me up from my warm bed, so she yelled: “KAIWEN!!!”. The servant immediately zoomed in my smily face, and started dialing my MM. Five seconds later, my sleepy face shows up on the glass. My mom’s order comes in from the other side of the Big Apple: “don’t forget to bring my green tea tiramisu today!”
“But, the only bakery that made it at the Cooper Square has closed.” I can’t believe she don’t remember that.
“I know, but I want to eat it now, you better learn to make it.”
“Yes, your highness.”
My hands touch the mirror, making circles. Kudos to Google, after I did a few Tai Chi strokes, a recipe jumps into view:
http://www.recipezaar.com/Green-Tea-Tiramisu-144906
Such is the life with Magic Mirror.
