I.M.I. loves video technology, and today we are taking a look at Mirror. On June 29th, 2020, Lululemon Athletica announced the $500 million acquisition of Mirror, a maker of premium digital workout displays. Plans to begin growing the brand began this 2020 holiday season. For those who don’t follow fitness, we are certain that you’ve probably come across this high design, high-tech piece of exercise equipment through HULU commercials or in your social media feeds, or via ads posted everywhere November through December.

Lululemon is expected to begin selling the device in a few stores by the end of this year. Lululemon had announced that it will begin offering Mirror products in 10 to 15 Lululemon stores in the U.S. just in time for holiday shopping. Aggressive investing in growth will begin in 2021.

But what exactly is it?

This is where the fun technology comes in; Mirror is a smart mirror that streams both on-demand and live fitness classes from an assistant app so you can workout at home. Though this may not sound so novel, Mirror puts its teachers on the front lines, along with the student’s own reflection. Every session makes students feel like they are taking a private class every time. In fact, many Lululemon ambassadors have offered live streams on social media channels to help people stay active during COVID-19. Lululemon’s loyalty membership program offers digital content as a component and is currently being tested in select cities. The Mirror brings a more full-bodied platform for Lululemon so it continues to offer digital programs for guests.

Digital programs/workouts via Mirror include cardio, yoga, bar, boxing, Pilates, strength, and stretching in levels that allow beginners and advanced students to grow by advancing. Boredom is not an option because there are more than 70 live classes a week. What makes it so popular and why are Mirror members in love with this tech? It’s no secret that if there’s one thing health conscience individuals love are trends, and Mirror fit’s that criteria times two. With the growing popularity of connected fitness and the increase of boutique fitness studios, Mirror seems to have found its fit in the marketplace. For those new to the field; connected fitness refers to streamed on-demand exercises done from home that allow for everything a brick and mortar studio offers. For example, exercise members have the ability to follow a favorite coach or join live group workouts that foster their home communities feel, minus all the traveling and planning/coordinating restrictions. Pre-COVID boutique fitness studios were giving traditional gyms a run for their money but now home gyms just make sense as far as safety is concerned.

So what can one expect when they use Mirror? The Mirror app is your home base where you can browse through workout categories and choose a class. You will be instructed on what equipment you will need, a menu of what exercises you’ll do, a list of what order you’ll do them in, and for how long. You are also welcome to read trainer/instructor bios so you know if it’s a perfect fit for you. During exercising your instructor “is right there” with your own reflection, which can take a bit to get used to. Mirror has its own music stations and if that is not enough it also supports Spotify Premium. You can adjust the loudness of the music and the volume of the instructor separately which works well depending on who you want to hear more from.

And as you work out the screen displays a countdown clock, calories burned, and if the Bluetooth heart rate monitor is connected, real-time heart rate data. Members can also see the names of other guests taking the class, whether the exercising is live or on-demand. Instructors have access to your chart, heart rate data, and class milestones, and they establish shout-outs, which is cool if you’re in a live class, you might get one.

The Mirror will implement one-on-one personal teaching via a camera later in 2020. For privacy you can close off the lens are with a cover apparatus. The Mirror is attractive, it operates seamlessly, has solid programming, and is pretty fun to use. You’ll pay $1495 for the Mirror, which includes resistance strips, a heart rate monitor, and a screen cleaning package. There is also a $250 setup fee and a $39 per month membership fee. That comes to a grand total of $2213. So you’re looking at spending roughly $200 a month for the first year, compare that to roughly $52, which is the national average cost of a monthly gym membership, and it’s an investment. But in times like these, you can’t or don’t want to leave home to workout, and group categories or one-on-one training can be incredibly motivating. So we can see why owning a Mirror or some other piece of connected fitness paraphernalia, may be worthwhile.