If you've seen Iron Man, you've heard of Jarvis, and unless you’re not into anything tech, you've have to have heard the equivalence of the “real life Jarvis”, right? Although nothing nearly as sophisticated, yet those types of at-home assistants are on their way, what we do have out there is Alexa by Amazon (among others), the assistant that will complete a task for you using your own microphone and words. These technologies, or shall I call them personalities, are stuck inside a house made of speakers. Their limitations are pretty straightforward, they’re not the most dynamic “assistants”, nor is there anything very groundbreaking about them. These devices are just like talking to your phone, or, what I'm doing right now, voice typing instead of manually typing with my fingers. But when it comes to the artificial intelligent AI “Butler” Duo, it helps us dream of things becoming a little more dynamic.

With Duo, things are getting a little more interesting, because this brand new artificial intelligence assistant has arrived in the form of a breathtakingly gorgeous mirror, and it’s as simple as talking to yourself in it. Duo is definitely different from other assistants. It’s not an Alexa, using cables to plug into the wall. It looks like a mirror just hanging on your wall, one that you would walk by and give yourself a smirk every once in awhile, only it also works as your friendly guide.

It’s a “part mirror, all computer” gadget where you can give commands, and start swiping through its programs to connect with your other smart devices around the home. Whether those may be a plethora of items, from lightbulbs to thermostats, or simply your smartphone, it’s quite the discreet little helper. Measuring 27 inches, its reflective display, a.k.a. mirroring, doesn’t simply have the look of an LCD panel display. Instead, it’s a touch-sensitive, 1.9mm thick mirror with full high definition, with a very futuristic look. Controlled by your voice and touch, Duo, the name of the device isn’t the name of your butler, actually. As Alexa is to Amazon, you call on “Albert” for your aid. And the things Albert can do for you vary greatly. The Duo on-board processor works for playing music, checking weather and news stats, and even more helpful tasks like controlling lights (per your household’s “smartness”), and playing games or videos.

The operating system, HomeOS, is full of its own apps, plus whatever the web-based HomeOS SDK’s developer template allows for (meaning, yay, you can create your own apps to use for your Duo device!). This is great for catering to your specific household needs. With the tech industry persistently trying to peek our interest with smarter homes and IoT benefits, this new “Jarvis”-like AI computer for your home of course has the added perk of connecting with other smart devices around. If you don’t have those, that’s just fine, it’s perfect as a standalone entertainment hub for $399. Sometimes, commanding a cute gadget to tell your the forecast, or play Al Green at your preferred speaker volume is just enough help. Plus, you can check yourself out while you say “go!”.