Digital assistants seem to be the Next Big Thing at the moment, but they appear to be mainly stuck in the audio realm. Daptly would prefer things to be a bit more visual, so it's introducing the Daptly Display. It looks like a trendy mirror, but is really a gesture-controlled interactive assistant and display screen.
Assistants like Amazon's Alexa are fun and even useful, but you do spend a lot of time shouting at a black cylinder or hockey puck, and you're never exactly sure what it's doing until it's done it. Did it put scrubbers or strawberries on the shopping list? Is it going to play Elton John as asked, or Donald Ray Johnson? Sometimes it's a tricky call.
With the Daptly Display, the interface is not only audio, but also video as it presents weather reports, videos, and emails. There's additionally gesture control, so the user can a) direct the device from across the room and b) not get greasy fingerprints all over it. The company says that this not only makes the Display unobtrusive, but also allows it to fade into the background when not needed, as it goes back to pretending to be a mirror.
In addition, the Display has facial recognition software, so it can recognize who's talking to it and individualize its response, so it give the right person their news, mail, or traffic reports. It can also control smart home devices like the lights or thermostat, and has IFTTT (If This Then That) for a wider option of services.
If your hands are full, it can also be voice-controlled. And if you're more of an Alexa fan, the Amazon assistant is already installed and can be connected to your account.
For aesthetic purposes, the Display comes in two options. There's the fog-resistant mirror option or, if you prefer not to face that puffy-faced stranger in the morning, it can display over 50,000 images from the Metropolitan Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Rijksmuseum, or your personal images uploaded from your wireless device.
The Daptly Display is priced at US$799, with an Early Bird discount price of $599. It ships in December 2017.
The video below introduces the Display.
Source: Daptly
