Who needs to go outside when a robot can simulate it for you? Lucy, a solar-powered smart mirror that redirects sunlight, can beam the benefits of the sun directly into your room.
This sun-sucking robot draws its influence from nature, following the sun across the sky like a sunflower to harvest its rays. Unlike a plant, though, Lucy doesn’t absorb the beams; it bends them into your house to illuminate rooms with natural light.
A pointer on the front of the orb-shaped bot directs the concentrated sunlight and shoots it against the wall like a laser beam. Point it at the ceiling and the sunlight will scatter when it hits, raining down an evenly distributed natural glow throughout the room.
Diva Tommei created Lucy while at Columbia University. The robot was designed to treat seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression often attributed to seasonal changes and vitamin-D deficiency. With help from Alessio Paoletti, a designer who has helped craft luxury goods for brands like Bulgari and Cavalli, Tommei started Solenica and turned Lucy into an Italian-inspired, minimalistic piece of home decor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnZZueB-fmE
The Solenica team says that Lucy can be used outdoors or indoors, as long as the mirror can remain in the path of the sun over the course of the day. An accompanying app will provide more insight into Lucy and how it is serving the home, including offering tips for optimizing its lighting capabilities. It will also calculate how much the user’s carbon footprint can be reduced by replacing standard bulbs with natural light.
Lucy is set to retail for $300 but will be available to early adopters for a discounted price.
Screengrab via Solenica/YouTube