Myrrorym

Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
The famous fairy tale’s mirror interacted with the person it reflected and showered them with compliments… what if a mirror really could talk? Even only under certain circumstances… wouldn’t it be extraordinary?
Myrrorrym is capable of displaying messages and managing areas with better or worse reflection visibility by managing their surface moisture when wet: after a shower, all mirrors and glazed surfaces usually cloud up; Myrrorrym locally regulates the surface temperature, drying those water droplets that make it impossible for images to be reflected. The result makes it possible to have text or drawings on the mirror as if we had drawn them with our own fingers, providing a clean area where we can see ourselves immediately after showering in order to care for the face or shave.

Inspiration
These mirrors have the same principle applied as that of our car’s rear window, which during cold periods and bad weather needs to be transparent as quickly as possible. This is done with resistances that heat it uniformly and pass within it. In Myrrorrym, these resistances are created by strokes of conductive paint applied behind the mirror. This painted resistance is continuously activated to generate the clean area which reflects images, and intermittently (two separate circuits) to create texts and drawings which prevent the heated surface from increasing in size, thereby allowing the images to keep their distinct quality.

Technology and materials
A mirror which appears to have been normally manufactured is equipped with a transformer supplying energy to two (or more) circuits that act as resisters, with one for each message, design, or area that must be maintained on the clouded surface. Symbols, letters, and dry areas are obtained by painting the back of the mirror with conductive paint that is then connected to the transformer with wire bridges that hinder the visualization of all the circuits on the mirror’s reflecting surface. A simple frame is applied to the back of the mirror to avoid the creation of an overly-thick system; it can also be used to place a strip of LED lights (placed on the same resistance transformer) to create an even more spectacular, almost magical object.

Interaction
It’s really annoying when you finish your shower and realize that you can’t finish getting ready because you can’t see yourself in the mirror. Myrrorrym aims to overcome this problem: before entering the shower, just turn on the mirror to heat up the right areas and avoid the formation of condensation on its surface. After the shower you’ll notice that you can use specific parts of your mirror immediately, but above all you might be surprised to see a few words or a smiley face left there by a loved one appear almost like magic! Myrrorym increases both comfort and irony in our bathrooms!

Year

2017


Work team

Andrea Cingoli (concept & development)
Umberto La Sorda (modelling & rendering)


Client

Research



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