The MIT Technology Review says that they both pulled their inspiration from the mind grapes of a British student who hypothesised that making objects look like a flat conducting sheet would successfully render an object invisible.

The basic idea is that objects hide under the mirror bump, and tiny silicon nanopillars on the surface of the mirrors steer light away from the object, making it—and the object it’s covering—look flat. Technology Review likens this to hiding something under thick carpet.

That means, unfortunately, that this isn’t an invisibility cloak we can run around in. These concepts follow suit with the original concept in thinking that a stationary, conductive sheet would work much better for rendering things invisible. So we all can’t start skipping out on our dinner bills quite yet.

Still, you can’t overlook the importance of taking little steps towards creating an invisible man. Invisibility is cool, even if just a concept in a lab somewhere. [Invisibility Cloak One and Invisibility Cloak Two via MIT Tech Review via KurzweilAI]

Try to look beyond that filthy smartphone JPEG compression to get glimpse into the future of auto mirrors.

The NeoView Kolon is a prototype that uses a transparent OLED display, presumably layered over a reflective mirror. The result is a HUD of sorts…that could probably be extremely useful if it didn’t expend so much light and distraction on looking cool.

For instance, a bumper mounted camera outfitted with the proper algorithms could track the speed of incoming vehicles. This data could label incoming fast cars on the OLED, alerting the driver to allow some extra breathing room in his lane.

Or, you know, you could fit a YouTube window up there, too. [OLED Info and OLED Televisions UK via Engadget]

According to a team of Japanese scientists, tripods under 1.5kg can actually worsen camera shake.

Nishi Lab and Tani Electronics co-developed a new tool/method to measure the effects of camera shake. What they found is that SLR cameras lose 1/4 of their resolution to mirror shock—the vibration from the camera’s internal mirror bouncing up.

To make matters worse, the team discovered that this mirror vibration can be exacerbated by mounting the camera to a tripod under 1.5kg.

Of course, even a light tripod can thwart general human shakiness. So while a tripod may enhance mirror shake, it’s still probably helpful in eliminating human shake. And I’m guessing the human shake is a bigger problem for most amateur photographers. [Tech On! via Crave]

It’s not Total Recall material, but a tracking system developed by professor Yoshihiko Nakamura of the Information and Robot Technology Institute and University of Tokyo’s boffins. The system can monitor and display 300 skeletal muscles thanks to 16 electromyographs, which measure the electrical impulses that govern your muscles.

The magic mirror marks the muscles with different colours depending on how much they are being used, ranging from yellow to red, which means major activity. [Pink Tentacle]

Looking past the creepy android mockup for a moment, the Glow Mirror is actually a pretty interesting product. Layered with photo luminescent material, the mirror illuminates, allowing you to better see yourself at night. Though we prefer the secondary function of looking perpetually brighter than the rest of the world, supported by a faint Saiyan-esque aura.

In sizes up to five feet in width, the Glow Mirror’s price is available upon request. [Generate Design via bltd]

His mirrors can reflect wider angles, capture 360-degree panoramas without distortion and even reflect vast amounts of infrared data (to measure body temperature).

New Scientist has a complete blow-by-blow of Hicks’ creations, but this lead shot is of a wide angle mirror free of distortion—lines that are straight in the real world remain perfectly straight on the mirror. Who would need such a thing? It’s implemented in a stair-climbing robot that requires precision angle information for each step. [New Scientist]

The table, titled “Reflection” (Oh, now I get it) is an art piece by Rirkrit Tiravanija, and it’s on display at NYEHaus on Gramercy Park in NYC until February 22nd, if you want to try to talk them into letting you play a quick game on it. [Anna Grimm via NYHaus]

That’s right, Italian designer Antonio Lupi has brought the iPod dock to the mirror—any mirror with a steel frame to be more precise. It even features an LED-illuminated power switch underneath the mirror to make it easy to find in the candlelight when you and the missus are making sweet, sweet love to the glass-shattering sounds of Michael Bolton. [Antonio Lupi via Newlaunches via DVICE]

The device works like a two headed dentist’s mirror. Place one end over your ear and adjust the other mirror until you can see whether or not you need to bust out the Q-tips or the trimming scissors. It may also be helpful for those who are prone to ear infections. Anyway you cut it, it won’t be pretty. [Home Trends via Book of Joe via DVICE]

The interface is highly responsive, the different software demos are visually impressive, and the potential uses for this type of technology are legion. But not one of the participants in the video painted a mustache on his or her face using the mirror’s wide range of drawing tools. It is for that reason that I deem this interactive mirror experiment a complete failure. [LitStudios]