Baracoda shows off first smart mirror for mental wellness at CES 2024

By Jon Bitner Published January 7, 2024

The BMind smart mirror installed in a bathroom. — Baracoda

Baracoda may not be as well-known as other smart home brands like Wyze and iRobot, but the health tech company had one of the coolest product reveals at CES 2024 with the BMind Smart Mirror. Designed to improve your mental wellness by identifying your mood and managing stress with AI, the unique product walked away from the show with a 2024 CES Innovation Award.

BMind uses generative AI and natural language processing to determine the user’s mood before suggesting various exercises like guided meditation or self-affirmations. Put simply, it’ll try to determine your needs based on your voice, posture, and other observable factors. The end goal is to help improve your mood using a variety of exercises, lights, sounds, and visuals — all of which are carried on board in the mirror.

Recommended Videos

Despite all this fancy tech, the smart mirror is designed to fit into a standard bathroom. More impressively, it does all this without the need for a companion smartphone app. Instead, it builds on the existing CareOS for its interface and uses programs from ThrivePal to help boost your mood. BMind is also built around privacy, with all your information stored locally. And it’ll never share your details without your consent.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“Technology that can monitor for subtle changes in health has the potential of improving the quality of millions of lives,” said Thomas Serval, CEO of Baracoda. “Our mental state exerts a strong effect on our sense of physical well-being. Including mood in our daily wellness check-ins creates a fuller picture that represents a powerful step toward redefining preventative health.”

Beyond BMind, Baracoda showed off its BBlance smart mat scale and BHeart health tracker at CES 2024. Combined with BMind, it’s clear Baracoda has big smart home plans for the coming year.

The BMind will start at $500 and will be available in the last quarter of 2024. Expect to learn more about the unique product in the coming months.

Topics

Jon Bitner is a writer covering consumer electronics, technology, and gaming. His work has been published on various websites…

Smart Home

Echo Spot vs. Echo Show 8: Which is best for your smart home?

The content gallery on Amazon's Echo Show 8 displays a news item about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

The Echo Spot is the newest edition of the Echo lineup. It serves as a smart alarm clock and is built for small spaces, while sytill offering lots of functionality despite its compact size. That's a stark contrast to the Echo Show 8, which offers a sizable eight-inch display and is designed more as an entertainment center. It's more expensive than the Echo Spot -- but is the Echo Show 8 worth its price tag, or should you opt for the more affordable Echo Spot?

From pricing and design to display quality and available features, here's a closer look at these two smart displays to help you find the right one for your home.
Pricing and design

Smart Home

Echo Spot vs. Echo Show 5: Is the new Echo Spot the better smart device?

The Amazon Echo Show (3rd Gen) on a table.

The Echo Show 5 is one of the smallest smart displays on the market. However, the new Echo Spot also boasts a tiny touchscreen -- though it's more of a smart alarm clock than it is smart display. But if you're seeking a compact and connected display for your home, is one a better option than the other?

Here's a closer look at the Echo Spot and Echo Show 5 to help you decide which is better for your needs.
Pricing and design

Smart Home

Philips launches its first smart lock with Wi-Fi that can be controlled from anywhere

The Philips Smart Deadbolt with Built-In Wi-Fi being installed on a door.

Philips has officially launched its first smart deadbolt with built-in Wi-Fi (aptly named the Philips Smart Deadbolt with Built-In Wi-Fi), giving users the ability to control their front door regardless of location. There's no need for a secondary bridge or other devices, as the lock itself connects directly to the Philips Home Access App via Wi-Fi, making setup a quick and easy process.

Further streamlining the setup process is the retrofit design of the smart lock. It should easily fit over most existing hardware, so you won't have to change out any deadbolts or worry about passing out new keys. That means the outside portion of your front door will largely look unchanged, though you'll still benefit from "smarts" such as voice command integration, auto-unlock function, door position sensing, and remote access via the mobile app.