Estimote Mirror beacon will make smart screens personal

The Estimote Mirror is a new product in a line of Bluetooth beacons that react to smartphones around them. This device uses similar technology to that of the rest of the Estimote Beacon line, but here makes a display – a TV screen, poster-sized billboard display, anything with am HDMI-input – show content based on a user being within proximity. This device may well bring about the age of Minority Report shopping at last.

While the Minority Report future had all identification done with retina-scanning, this future requires only that a smartphone (or similar smart device) be nearby. At the bottom of this article is the scene which we're referencing here. In it, John Anderton walks through a shopping mall in which all advertisements are personalized, sending propositions to Anderton by name.

The way Estimote's newest beacon works is similar. Users will find themselves tended to personally – in one possible use of the device – showing them which products are in the store they're visiting based on their interests.

"The ways Mirror can be used are limitless," said Estimote CEO Jakub Krzych. "A brick-and-mortar store can install Mirror on wall-mounted screens so those monitors show video ads or product information that change depending on the proximity of a particular customer. If a shopper has that store's app on her phone, Mirror could discern if she has a history of buying a certain brand. The store can then display ads of that brand's latest products when she walks by."

Another use for this beacon is connecting between devices in a location. One person might see a series of devices in front of them, and a screen nearby may react depending on which device the user picks up and plays with.

Back in July of this year (2016), Estimote announced that they'd be including programmable NFC in with their Proximity Beacon collection. With easy programmability, the entire Estimote collection is a wide open door for users of all sorts.

Estimote Mirror Developer Packs will be available for pre-order starting immediately if not soon. These packs will cost $99 USD and will be shipped inside 2016.