Amazon's next device? A mirror for trying virtual clothes, patent hints

You have to admit it: Amazon isn't afraid to dream.

It had the foresight to develop Echo speakers, as well as the Alexa assistant, and then it opened up the Alexa platform up to developers and manufacturers. Now, we have Alexa everywhere, and in a range of form factors, including quirky little devices such as Amazon's own Echo Look, which isn't about providing weather updates or music playback or enhancing your smart home experience.

While it does have a speaker so you can hear Alexa, it's primarily includes a unique service that allows you to capture your daily outfits, catalogue them, and get style advice in real time. Now, Amazon is taking that same original thinking and applying it to a mirror, according to a patent it filed through the USPTO (via GeekWire). With it, Amazon plans to alleviate any concerns about online clothes shopping.

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Think about it: buying an outfit online means you don't 100-per cent know how it will look on you or in person. Amazon's patented mirror, however, lets you virtually try on clothes. The patent outlines a mirror that's part reflective and part transmissive. It uses a combination of displays, cameras, and projectors to create a blended image or reality so that you can see how clothes would look on you.

The mirror first scans your surroundings to create a virtual model, then it detects your face and eyes, and reflects certain objects in the mirror for you to see. The result? Virtual clothes and a virtual location - all visible through Amazon's mirror. Keep in mind Amazon acquired AI and computer vision firm Body Labs last year. It can create 3D models of human bodies in motion and give them virtual outfits.

Amazon definitely has the fashion industry in its sights, as evident by the Echo Look, so the possibility of this mirror isn't too far-fetched.