Based on its unique characteristics, some of the possible personal uses of the Ambient Mirror include:

Extending human memory and awareness. For anything ranging from today’s schedule or self-medication plan, to vacation memoirs or critical incidents of one’s life. In this case, the mirror works like a recording/ playback device that can present information to its owner both (pro)actively, based on predefined programs (“always remind me about a meeting an hour ahead,” “when I meet someone, remind me of her name”) and passively, using dynamic requests (“I want to re-expe-rience: (a) X specific minutes of yesterday; (b) all the times that I felt happy during the past month; (c) a collection of my personal thoughts expressed today”). Since the mirror collects data from far more sources than the human senses, it can potentially “remember” more things about the self than this person can even perceive, thus not only increasing the storage capacity of the human brain, but also (retrospectively) enhancing its awareness capabilities.

But if we rely even more on technology for remembering things, would we then deliberately further weaken our own memory? Could we arrive to the point where we use our brain only for short-term storage of data needed for immediate processing and then dump everything else on the Ambient Mirror, in a way that’s analogous to RAM and hard disks? And what will happen if the mirror “breaks,” for example, it is partially destroyed or is infected by a virus? On the other hand, if the mirror helps

us free all the memory space and processing overhead devoted to mundane things, would we then be able to put these resources to better use? Beyond these concerns, another question is, would the capability of accurately replaying past events result in an endless torment of regret about things that we should (or should not) have said and done?

Seeing the unseen. In other words, converting abstract personal information into a tangible form. The mirror intrinsically possesses this ability since most of the collected data is imperceptible to human senses (physiological measures, analysis of written and oral communications). This information can work as real-time feedback for various uses such as stress control, accident prediction and avoidance, or instant health or mental status checkup before an important match, performance, or meeting. A related example is that of biofeedback, in which bodily functions (blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature) are measured and then visualized (using numbers, graphs, or even games) in order to help a person understand and master her unconscious physiological activities. Furthermore, the mirror has the ability to keep track of, spot, and report phenomena that are usually difficult to self-identify because they span or change over time, such as habits, interpersonal relationships, likes, dislikes, acquirement of (or loss) of skills, degradation of senses, etc.

Self-knowledge and self-improvement. Development of physical skills (much like what athletes and actors do by reviewing videos of their performance to identify errors and

correct their technique) and introspection/self-reflection for scientific, educational, and psychological purposes. A basic concern of this type of personal use is that currently some guidance or monitoring by a trained specialist (a trainer or a psychologist, depending on the case) is required in order to ensure the safety of the person in question and the achievement of tangible results. In this case, one may claim that required expert knowledge can also be offered by the Ambient Mirror, either in the form of intelligent agents or by acting as a mediator between the person and remote experts. Another potential risk is that the mirror may work as a self-fulfilling prophecy; the person looking into it may (sub) consciously alter their actions or even character traits in order to “align” themselves to their perceived image.

Social Use of the Ambient Mirror

If, as admitted earlier on, we can really see ourselves in the Ambient Mirror, then the mirror probably would also be a handy tool for allowing other people to “see” us. Currently, this function is served by personal conversations, profiles, CVs, biographies, blogs, photo albums, and video clips. The key difference with the mirror is that it will not just allow you to see somebody else, but to almost experience being somebody else!

Of course, in this case, one would like to be able to decide who has access to which parts of one’s mirror. In other words, some kind of “tools” will be needed for selecting specific parts of the mirror’s content and releasing them to selected view-