Mir:ror Blurs Line Between Real Life and Online

Violet, the company who's been toying with Internet enabled devices for quite a while now continues to expand the functionality of its already ubiquitous devices with the Mir:ror. The USB connected Mir:ror multicolor LED lighted pad reads RFID chips embedded in their Ztamp:s (and Ztamp loaded bunnies: Nazbatag:tag) to launch apps or do online errands all by proximity. The concept is pretty simple, attach a Ztamp(a postage stamp sized RFID tag) to any object you want, a coffee cup, your car keys or a picture frame, and bring the Ztamp'd object near the Mir:ror pad and a custom set of tasks is launched. You could Ztamp your car keys to get a traffic report, fetch a grocery list and text message it to your cell, and twit that you are on your way home. A picture frame could start an email to your spouse and set your Facebook status to "being thankful for my family".

From the looks of it they have a good head start in creating a human-computer mash-up with lots of potential even if they do suffer from some serious schizophrenia in their marketing department. The key to the system will be the violet.net service and their creativity in providing options that are actually useful. The service is still free once you purchase the hardware. The service is capable of running local commands or fetching Internet available data (e.g. RSS feeds) to provide all its utility, but its not clear if the device will function in an offline mode. Currently the Mir:ror system is only available for purchase in some parts of Europe, but should become available as they get their online store updated. YouTube walk-through over the jump.