Reflections on New Health Technology

'Now that's my kind of mirror!'

Is it just me, or are mirrors not as interesting as they use to be? Once upon a time, I’m sure, mirrors were a source of constant fascination. At school, as I distinctly remember, reflections needed to be checked at every opportunity – every break at least – usually with a comb (!) in hand. After haircuts got a bit more sensible there was still the need to make sure cappuccino foam wasn’t moustaching the upper lip, and spinach hadn’t got caught between incisors – even though, at that time, I did not eat spinach.

Now they are the enemy. The mirror is the ex-friend who you see far too often and their very presence is a reminder of ‘Glory days’ and years before the wrinkle, bag and crease.

Bury my heart at Broken Vein.

I even shave in the shower now.

What I do not want is a mirror that tells me even more bad news. So, it was with a heavy heart then that I read about the PhD research of one Ming-Zher Poh at MIT. Poh is working on contact-free and remote ways of measuring vital signs. And guess what? Go on, guess where he is putting all his very clever technology?

Yes, he’s putting it into a mirror. At the moment his medical mirror cam measure breathing rate, heart rate and heart-rate variability – I’m not too sure what that last one is, but I am pretty sure I don’t want to know mine. It’s very clever tech, using the fact that contraction or dilation of your blood vessels alters the amount of light your body will reflect. He hopes to adapt the medical mirror to measure blood pressure as well – and lots of other things.

Great.

Now, not only will your mirror give you a daily update on crowsfeet, laughter lines (ha, ha) and extra pounds it will sneak on your deteriorating physiological condition as well. No way to pretend it’s something that will just ‘go away’, not when the mirror is screaming at you every morning as you clean your teeth – polish the porcelain veneers that it. Maybe they’ll put a link to your local hospital in the mirror as well. Then one day as you stare vacantly at the reflection of your blood-shot eyes, the signal will go out and the next thing you know there will an ambulance at the door, and you will be carted off to the Home for the Reflectionally Compromised.

Well, at least there will be no mirrors there.