

Most people are familiar with Pioneer, as they're one of the leading providers of in-car audio equipment. Robin Labs, may be a different story, as they're most likely a little less well known to many. To shed some light on who and what Robin Labs is, they are the makers of a voice assistant app that is personalized to run on yahoo services, and their app is currently available on the Play Store. Recently their newest venture though happens to be in partnership with Pioneer, to manufacture a rear view mirror that has a built in personal assistant that is based off of Android. The actual product that they showed off at CES and that the two companies are working on is called the Drive Agent Mirror, and is a wide angle rear view mirror that has a built in touch screen.

When looking at the product as it's turned off, it appears as just a normal "wide" and fully reflective rear view mirror that allows for better vision and for the driver to have a greater view of everything behind them. When activated and turned on with the personal assistant however, â…“ of the mirror becomes the touch screen which you can see in the photos and can provide you with voice assisted features like navigation, maps, local listings of businesses, and even weather. None of this is new tech provided for in-car use as features like these are available directly on your phones, and navigation systems and other in-car touch panels, but this is the first we've seen of a rear view mirror with touch based personal assistant access and features. Running Android no less. All of the features that appear in the Drive Agent Mirror's personal assistant functions are in the existing Robin app that Robin Labs offers.


Pioneer and Robin Labs aren't the only ones looking to forge a path into the realm of connected cars as Google has signed a deal with Audi to begin projects of its own in this department, but this is definitely an interesting concept and provides what might be one of the most natural and safest options for in-car use of technology such as this. Use of mirrors is a natural habit that all drivers should have and be actively utilizing, so what better place to have your navigation than in your rear view mirror? If anything, it allows for less of an opportunity to take your eyes off the road, which is always a good thing. Would you buy a device like this instead of a regular dash mounted navigation system with similar features? Let us know what you think about Pioneer and Robin Labs Drive Agent Mirror in the comments.