LG Electronics is strengthening its penetration into the smart home market with smart mirrors as the hub. LG Electronics-led creation of smart home ecosystem is expected to accelerate as smart mirrors will be supplied in large-scale to new apartments.

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<Smart mirror concept image. Smart mirror is a platform that can display various weather, health, and current affairs information on the mirror display or control home appliances. Source - Getty Images>

According to the industry on the 12th, LG Electronics is closely discussing the large-scale supply of LG Smart Mirrors with major domestic construction companies. If the contract is signed, smart mirrors will be installed in all households when the new apartment buildings are completed a few years later.

A smart mirror refers to a mirror display to search for weather information, find directions, control home appliances, manage schedules, and check energy use in real time. It acts as a smart home hub operated by LG Electronics' smart home platform 'ThinQ Home' and can easily control varioushome appliances of LG Electronics with a mirror display. It is a touch method but also has a voice control function. Consumers can manage home appliances far away from the LG Smart Mirror. For example, when the air in the house is polluted, a smart mirror can display an alert and automatically operate the LG air purifier. As LG Electronics aims for an open ecosystem, it plans to link the smart mirror with boilers, other brands of home appliances, and lighting in the future. The goal is to implement a complete artificial intelligence (AI) home solution by controlling all smart devices in the house.

LG Electronics is also planning to link smart mirrors and LG complex sensors and supply them at the same time. It has recently developed a wall-mounted ultra-high-performance composite sensor that detects indoor fine dust, concentration of harmful matters, temperature, humidity, and occupancy. Linking LG complex sensor and smart mirror presents an AI home solution with higher accuracy and convenience. By discussing with various partners, LG Electronics plans to add various contents to Smart Mirror, such as parking management, home energy consumption management, beauty care, and health check. It aims to supply at least two smart mirrors per household and ultimately replaceareas with mirrors at home, such as bathrooms and in front of the front door, with LG Smart Mirror.

Currently, the domestic smart mirror market is in its infancy. Smart mirrors are supplied to some golf courses, movie theaters, and hypermarkets in B2B form, but the general household penetration rate is low. As a result, it is analyzed that LG Electronics, which possesses differentiated image quality and display technology, can have unrivaled competitiveness in the domestic and overseas smart mirror market. It is expected to discover a market that did not exist before and open a global market and to accelerate its LG AI smart home solution strategy with a focus on smart mirrors. Home appliances sales are also expected to increase based on synergy and smooth interoperability with other home appliances of LG Electronics. An LG Electronics official said, "Currently, we have started supplying LG smart mirrors to some studio-type apartments, but e cannot confirm the status of other supplies.”

By Sora Park, Staff Reporter srpark@etnews.com