IRJET- Smart Mirror using Virtual Voice Assistant

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 04 | Apr 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 151
Smart Mirror using Virtual Voice Assistant
Amit Dhavale 1, Saurabh Chavan2, Mayuresh Supe 3, Pravin Rahate4
1,2,3,4Student, Department of Computer Engineering, Datta Meghe College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India,
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Abstract - This paper describes the design and
implementation of a voice controlled wall mirror, called
“Smart Mirror”. It is a device that can function both as a
mirror and a useful source of interaction for getting daily
updates about the weather, news as well as for playing audio
and video files. In addition to this, the device can also be used
for searching any type of information on the internet which
could be useful to satiate our knowledge and curiosity. Tasks
such as mathematical computations can be done thoroughly
and ergonomically within fraction of seconds. Thus, the paper
illustrates the construction and working of the Smart Mirror
in full and also gives an overview of its vivid applications.
Key Words: Smart Mirror, Raspberry pi 3+, voice assistant,
Internet of Things;
1. INTRODUCTION
In our day to day life, we make use of our smartphone to get
updates about the various activities that go on in different
parts of the globe. Often times we get drawn to our mobile
phones for the usage of various applications, in most cases
surfing the internet, getting news updates and playing video
and audio files. When we are outdoors we cannot help but
rely upon our smartphones to give us all the informationthat
weneed, but when we are indoors, thenuisanceofhandlinga
device in our hands could become tiresome at times. So,
during those times, it is possible to construct a device which
provides the benefit of operating itself with the help of voice
commands in case we are too exhausted to operate it
physically through instruments like keyboard and mouse.
Through only our own voice we can tell the Smart Mirror to
perform some of the basic but needful tasks that we require
in our everyday life. And as far as the cost and space
management is taken into consideration,theimplementation
of the Smart Mirror is very frugal and can be carried out by
people of any financial class as the Smart Mirror does the
work of both a smartphone and modern television. Such
types of devicescreateaneffortlessandcalmatmosphereand
therefore ease our lives in many ways. [1]
1.1 THEORY
In the last ten to fifteen years, we have seen a considerable
amount of development and innovation in the field of
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of
Things. Many software, as well as hardware components,
have been developed for a lucidanduser-friendlyinterface.It
is only through this desire for a better interface with less
physical and mental efforts that we are living in a connected
environment which has the capability of going through
constantchanges.Similarly,itisthehumannaturethatcraves
for more facilities that pave the way for a life of ease. The
concept of Smart Mirror is one of these facilities.[2]
Through the Internet of Things[3] concepts, we came to
understand the positive effects of a voice controlleddevicein
the form of a television and that too cost-effective, which
could be useful in a residential environment togetthebasicif
not the most important tasksthat are being performedinour
day to day life and which require constant flow of various
kinds of data for personal and professional use done.
By making use of hardware components such as a spare
monitor, couple of cables of various types and aRaspberryPi
3+ module by using it as a control processing unit, we
developed a system which is equivalent to a home
automation system, but which is used to perform someofthe
mundane tasks such as reading a newspaper, getting live
news feeds, weather reports, and playing audio and video
files. Along with these tasks we made the Smart Mirror
worthy enough to be able to search any information on the
internet by just aptly and precisely guiding the device
through our voice. The mainadvantage of this concept isthat
all of theprovidedapplicationscouldbedonesimultaneously.
It is by keeping in mind the convenience factor that we were
able to formulate a user-friendly and basic automation
system which could be operated by a person’s voice for the
common man. So instead of purchasing a brand new
television, altogether, it would be better if for household
purposes a person could build his or her own Smart Mirror
by gatheringa bunch of hardwareresourcesandprogramthe
voice assistant functionalitiesaccordingtoone’sownneedby
investing a diminutive amount of monetary resources.
1.2 RELATED WORK
For implementing the Smart Mirror we studied the existing
prototypes implemented by the students of theUniversity of
Deusto who had implemented a Smart Mirror aimed at
promoting wellness and healthier lifestyles in the work
environment through persuasive strategies. Their Smart
Mirror by means of an RFID reader provides the feature of
recognizing different users throughtheirpersonal corporate
ID card which allows the users to have access to their
personal user interface through physical work information.
The Smart Mirror provides workplace indoor conditions
(luminary and thermal conditions) and physical effort
information obtained from general purpose sources

(weather reports). The project provided valuable feedback
on improving the workplace conditions of the employees. [4]
In addition to this, we also looked at the Smart Mirror
developed by the students of the Sri Lanka Institute of
Information Technology who had developed a similar
prototype with the intention of monitoring children in a
secure manner. Their model made the use of connecting
various applications concerning childcare services which
were installed on the Smart Mirrors in the vicinity of the
children’s homes. [5]
Finally, we have thoroughly studied an Internet of Things
(IoT) based Smart Mirror developed by the students of
GSSSIETW, Mysuru, Karnataka, in which they have
implemented sensors which possess the ability to detect an
unknown person whose details have not been entered into
the Smart Mirror database. The system was developed
mainly for the purpose of the detection of a thief in a
household. The Smart Mirror was connected to the alarm
system of a home and thus proved to be a useful mechanism
from a security perspective. [6]
2. PROPOSED SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS
The following information outlines the various components
that we have made use of as well as the purpose for which
they have been used.
2.1 SYSTEM OVERVIEW
In our Smart Mirror implementation, we have considered
implementing various applications or widgets using web
development technologies. We have used XML (Extensible
Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), Javascript,
and Bootstrap fordesigning a couple of ourownwidgets.The
voice assistant feature through which the user can interact
with the Smart Mirror is implemented using the Python
programming language. Data is exported andimportedusing
JSON (Javascript ObjectNotation). Since the implementation
is devoid of any cloud service we have abandoned the RSS
(Really Simple Syndication) feature in many of the
applications. So the user will be getting a new news feed
every time he or she logs into the Smart Mirror. For
implementing the voice assistant functionalities, we have
used Amazon Web Service’s Alexa as our project’s voice
helper and developed our own voice assistant for various
basic and easy-to-use widgets that we have implemented for
the purpose of demonstration.
It is our intention that the human interaction with the Smart
Mirror is on the same level of ease as that with a typical
smartphone, but perhaps on a more casual level. The
implemented system block diagram for the smart mirror
which exemplifies the hardware and software connectionsis
shown in Figure 1. The aim of designing this model is to
create an interactive interface which can be conveniently
used in a home environmentonalargescale.Variousservices
like weather, calendar, traffic, news stock updates etc. can be
accessed and controlled using voice commands. The
Raspberry Pi 3+ module is connected to a Monitor via HDMI
cable and a speaker is attached using a universal serial bus.
The speakers can also be operated using the Bluetooth
technology. Voice commands to the Smart Mirror are
provided via a microphone which is, again, attached to the
Raspberry Pi 3+ module. The Raspberry Pi 3+ is powered up
using a 5V/2A DC supply.
The technologies used for Smart Mirror are:
1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Machine Learning
3. Bluetooth
4. Python
5. JSON
6. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
7. XML (Extensible Markup Language)
8. Bootstrap
9. Javascript
Figure 1- Hardware components and their connections
2.2 RASPBERRY PI 3+
Raspberry Pi 3+ is the main component for this proposed
model. The Raspberry Pi 3+ is used withmicroSDcardwhich
is mounted on it. An operating system called Raspbian is
booted with the help of the Raspberry Pi 3+ module and the
Smart Mirror is initiated. Voice commands are to be given to
the Smart Mirror through the microphone and the output is
delivered through the speakers as well as displayed on the
Smart Mirror.
2.3 DUAL PURPOSE MIRROR
In order to provide for a dual purpose functionality, we are
using a mirror which will be mounted onto the monitor.

When the monitor is turned on, the mirror will be used for
the purpose of Smart Mirror usage, and, when the monitor is
turned off the mirror will be used as a general purpose
mirror as it has reflective as wellasnon-reflectiveproperties.
Often in our households, we require a mirror, and therefore,
we believe that it would be less time consuming that a single
device be used for getting the routinely activities of our
everyday life done and at the same time check for updates
about the events and occurrences around us. By taking into
consideration the dual purpose benefits of the mirror, we
realized that the need for an additional general purpose
domestic mirror could be eliminated. The concept of a dual
purpose Smart Mirror was analyzed and implemented by
referring to the work done in a similar fashion by the alumni
of MacEwan University, Canada. [7]
2.4 FUNCTIONALITIES
The implemented model is capable of performing the
following operations:
1. Work as a general purpose mirror which can be used as a
regular mirror.
2. Provide the option of using the model as a smartphone
based personal computerwhichiscapableofworkingexactly
like a smartphone without a touch functionality but a voice
assistant as well as various other modes of operation suchas
keyboard and mouse.
3. The implemented SmartMirror’smainobjectivefunctionis
to let the user interact with the proposedmodelwiththehelp
of voice commands. This means that with the help of some
pre-determined set of voice commands, the user will be able
to navigate his or her way through the various applications
(widgets) installed in the operating system such as viewing
stock updates, weather updates, news, in addition to playing
audio and video files.
4. The features of the implemented Smart Mirror are:
I. Automatic Voice Recognition
II. Global Vocabulary
III. Natural Language Processing based text-to-speech
processing
IV. Real time streaming and stored audio and video
playback
The Smart Mirror operations are based on the following
entity relationship diagram represented in Figure 2.
Figure 2- Smart Mirror Working
Figure 3 gives an understanding of the internal working of
the Smart Mirror through a lucid flowchart.
Figure 3 – Smart Mirror Internal Working
Figure 4 illustrates the sequence in which thevoiceassistant
takes an input voice command and gives the desired output
in an audio visual format.
Figure 4- Voice Assistant Internal Working
Figure 5 explains our idea of the framework of the Smart
Mirror architecture. Other hardware components such as
speaker and microphone have not been displayed as this is
the raw architecture that will be assembled first. To prevent
the mirror from being reflective at times needed, we have
covered the mirror by an opaque piece of cloth from behind.
The mirror that we have used for the Smart Mirror is an
acrylic holo two sided mirror. This mirror has reflective as
well as non-reflective properties. By doing this withthehelp
of the android monitor the Smart Mirror outputs can be
displayed on the screen without any light blockage.[8]

Figure 5 – Smart Mirror Framework
Figure 6 shows the basic user interface of the Smart Mirror
that will be used by the end user. The user interface will
show the data on the mirror and the emptyspaceinbetween
will accommodate the reflection of the user. Initially, a black
screen such as the one illustrated in Figure 6 will pop upand
succeeding that the user can either control the Smart Mirror
via voice commands or through conventional keyboard or
mouse.
The need for a voice assistant that we have developed can be
felt useful when the user does not need to edit any
documents and simply wants to search any type of
information on the internet, since we have implemented the
voice assistant functionalities only for certain widgets that
were inbuilt in the Raspbian operating system and some of
the widgets that we designed on our own. We decided to
implementthevoiceassistantfeaturebystudyingtheexisting
prototype developed by the students of the University
Engineering College of Pune.[9]
Figure 6 – Smart Mirror User Interface
3. CONCLUSIONS
We have designed a Smart Mirror keeping in mind the avid
interest taken by various large scale technological
conglomerates which have focused their attention on
providing user friendly devices which use various voice
based commands as they are available in smartphones.
However, our focus is concentrated on the benefits that will
be experienced to the full by the common people who lack
the financial resources to purchase branded products.
We have built a working model to demonstrate the basic
applications which are used by the common man and the
simple ways in which the user can interact with the Smart
Mirror by giving input in theformofvoicecommandsintothe
microphoneand acknowledgingtheoutputviathespeakeras
well as the Smart Mirror itself.
It is our belief that for future work we would be able to
implement a couple of additionalfunctionalitiessuchasbuild
an entire home automation system using the Smart Mirror,
make available the possibility of playing sport games and
enable the user to interact with a number of other essential
applications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank our project guide Prof.PravinRahate
in guiding and helping us towards achieving our project
objectives.
REFERENCES
[1] M.S.Raisinghani, A. Benoit, J. Ding. M. Gomez, K. Gupta,
V.Gusila. D. Power, and 0.Schmedding, Ambient
intelligence: Changing forms of human computer
interaction and their social implications. Journal of
Digital Information, 5(4), (2004).M. Young, The
Technical Writer’s Handbook. Mill Valley,CA:University
Science, 1989.
[2] Preeti Pannu, Vaibhav Khanna, Yash Vardhan, Dhruv
Nair, Design and Development of a Smart Mirror Using
Raspberry PI, IJEEDC, Volume-5, Issue 1, January 2017.
[3] K.Ashton, “That 'Internet of Things'Thing”RFIDJournal,
July 22, 2009.
[4] Gómez-Carmona, Oihane & Casado Mansilla, Diego.
(2017). SmiWork: An Interactive Smart MirrorPlatform
for Workplace Health Promotion.
[5] R.M.B.N. Siripala, M. Nirosha, P.A.D.A. Jayaweer4 ,
N.D.A.S. Dananjaya, Ms. S.G.S. Fernando:RaspbianMagic
Mirror-A Smart Mirror to Monitor Children by using
Raspberry Pi Technology (2017).

[6] Lakshmi N M, Chandana M S, Ishwarya P, Nagarur
Meena, Rajendra R Patil: IoT based Smart Mirror using
Raspberry Pi (2018).
[7] Derrick Gold, David Sollinger, and Indratmo. Smart
Reflect: A Modular Smart Mirror Application Platform.
IEEE Journal, Nov 2016.
[8] D.K. Mittal, V. Verma, R. Rastogi.: A Comparative Study
and New Model for Smart Mirror (2017).
[9] Prof. Sheetal Patil, Prathamesh S. More, Pratik P.
Nashine, Ritali P. Rajput, Vitika Diwakar: Smart Mirror
Integrated with Smart Assistant (2018).

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