Nothing drives product development faster than a trade show deadline.
In 2019 Mirror Image (MI), located in Los Angeles CA, needed to take a smart idea from whiteboard to proof of concept.
Together they used Mirror Images’ own designers for aesthetic design. Mirror enclosure and glass were assembled by MI’s own manufacturing. The mirror factory was ill equipped for electronics. MBA mitigated that risk by specifying off the shelf Raspberry Pi boards.
The idea was an Alexa driven smart mirror for the hospitality industry. Features included weather app with three day forecast; messaging between guest rooms and front desk; promo advertising for special events; and expanded service requests such as make up room, order a cab, send towels and more.
With barely 90 days to ship date, the stakes were high. There were multiple unknowns and a slippery slope of creeping features. Like a great quarterback in the red zone, Glen Nuegartten, president of Mirror Image, called an audible. He reached out to Mel Boldt and Associates to deliver the ball over the goal line.
MBA highlighted software risks including OS restrictions. While Android is very capable for app driven products, commercial certification risks made Linux Embedded OS a better choice.
Feature creep and User Interface iteration were highlighted as further risks. Under the advice of MBA, Glen chose to keep the UI flat, and limit the demonstrated service requests.
Glen Nuegarten’s fast action and decisiveness put Mirror Image on a success path. MBA delivered the heavy lifting of hardware integration, ground up software development voice activated, secure room-to-desk messaging; desk-to-multi room broadcasting; promo broadcasting; and custom Alexa skills. Finally, on site tradeshow support ensured a fantastic demo.
With one smart call, Glen Nuegartten delivered the ball into the endzone, successfully demonstrating the smart mirror proof of concept at BDNY in New York, NY, November 2019.
