WhiteMirror - Interactive mirror for self development
This was my final project of the M-Design at HIT.
The idea was to research my inner self so I can develop and be a better person.
The result, in a nutshell, is a cloud service for self-development.
In its heart is an interactive mirror,
enabling me to change my habits and course of life
by first recording my behavior and habits using my mobile device,
and then reflecting on them at a later stage (e.g. end of the day) in front of the mirror.
1. Recordings or logging of events in my life. During commuting or between activities & meetings etc.
2. Reflecting on those recordings in the evening in front of the interactive mirror (could use also an iPad or smartphone).
3. Getting inspiring content to increase motivation.
4. The mirror suggests new directions and goals to pursue.
5. Iterating stages 1 to 4 until accomplishing the desired change.
My goal was to improve my self awareness, discharge some habits while growing new good ones.
Doing all of that despite the powerful, overwhelming and intense flow we all share and get lost in, our second pulse, the stream of media, amplified by technology, mobile connectivity, social networks, etc.
Naturally, as a designer, figuring who is the Persona was easy, as it is me!
The user can view him/herself in the mirror, view former recordings and reflect on them later.
The design process
When I started I was quite puzzled with my many identities. They did not seem to be coherent. It looked like my different characteristics are in conflict, and take different shapes and forms. For instance, I found I can be intimate with a close friend, yet be lite and witty in a chat app with another buddy. I can be dormouse in some cases and vigorous in others.
To deal with that and find structure the first thing I did is map my daily life into small portions. I recorded in each one of them my state of mind, feelings and insights emerging from this experience.
I identified these segments as being bubbles, defined by time, space and context. One can characterize these bubbles by many attributes. A few examples of these attributes are:
- the degree of self-awareness
- sense of belonging to the community
- how much self-control is involved
In addition, I mapped bubbles according to the degree of isolation or connectivity.
On one extreme there are bubbles which restrict and try to block the outer world from entering them. Some examples are: prisons, monasteries, Amish communities etc.
On the other extreme are hyper connected situations. People that obsess social networks usage or take part in the TV series - "Connected".
Participants in "Connected" film & document their private life and share it with everyone. Another example is the "Big Brother" reality TV show.
When I mapped my daily life into a series of bubbles, I noted that these bubbles were on the spectrum between isolated & connected.
The next step, was a conceptual leap or twist, the decision to join forces with the daily flow of life. I decided not to fight it. Fighting it would mean, designing a solution that isolates the user for a long period of time. For instance, as happens during retreats or vipassana meditation courses. I decided to pursue a different approach. The idea is to tap into my routines, on a daily or even hourly basis, while using the same technology causing us to be distant from ourselves - the mobile.
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After researching psychology and coaching practices I decided to adopt the following method:
- Logging & recording events, feelings and thoughts, while commuting to work and back home, before and after work meetings, web conferences etc.
- Reflecting in front of an interactive mirror in the evening. Using a touch interface and speech to text, for chat & voice assistant technology. Also extract insights and reach decisions.
Who am I today?
dormouse
rational
quiet
vigorous
creative
The way it works
The full service or system consists of right to left: logging events during commuting, in between meetings and reflecting on them in front of the interactive mirror.
The implementation includes a cloud service, an AI engine that will learn the user's schedule, past events & analyze their sentiment, suggest personalized inspiring content, assist in decision making and hopefully hooking me and maybe others to pursue goals and productive habits over significant periods of time.
A typical anticipated major change (e.g. become a manager, improve health, be a better parent, quit smoking, etc. ) is the result of many iterations.
Each iteration consists of a few stages. I found that I start by logging my current status, try to find time and then Reflect on it, learn and get inspired and take a decision and try to persist in the new direction.
View the different stages in the diagram above.
A cloud service designed to assist me and any user pursuing a change to be effective.
Start stage:
The service will learn from the past. Deduce from former iterations, data from my virtual interactions, places and events.
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Schedule stage:
Schedule meetings with me. Consider my daily patterns and calendar.
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Logging stage:
Analyze the sentiment of events logged by the user. The user will state his/her feelings and insights.
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Reflection stage:
Allow the user to reflect & respond to former events logged.
Analyze the sentiment of the reflections, tag and label keywords and determine how the narrative in evolving.
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Inspiration stage:
The AI engine suggests to the user motivational content that suits his goals.
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Decision stage:
The service's AI supplies suggestions for tasks as part of a new change and assist the user with selecting a new direction.
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The user will iterate a few times through the stages (schedule to decision), until the goal is achieved.
I currently continue to develop this idea and test it as far as I can by prototyping parts of it.
I'm testing it on myself and a few volunteers.
The results are encouraging, though there is much work to do in order to make it work.
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