This Ikea Mirror Will Be Your Biggest Fan

Ikea is known for affordable, hard to put together furniture, Swedish meatballs, and confusing store layouts. But soon, the company might be synonymous with making you feel good about yourself. Ikea's new "Motivational Mirror" compliments you on your physical appearance. I'm not convinced that these robotic compliments are quite as good as the real thing, but hey — it's better than going through the day without being told you look nice, right?

According to AdWeek, the Swedish housewares retailer commissioned research that found "49% of Brits receive no compliments in an average week" and that "43.6 million people in the U.K. are self-critical of their appearance." No real surprises there, but it definitely proves that people have a negative self-image problem. The findings don't appear to be gendered, (the Motivational Mirror is for everyone!) but previous studies have found that women fret about physical appearance more frequently than men.

"We all know how that first look in the bathroom or bedroom mirror can determine whether we have a good or bad day," Myriam Ruffo, head of bedrooms and bathrooms (badass job title alert) at Ikea U.K. and Ireland told AdWeek. "That's why we thought — wouldn't it be great if the mirror actually told you something positive for a change!"

Even if receiving pre-recorded electronic compliments seems a little weird, the concept is bound to make people smile, which is exactly what it's meant to do. So, how does this magical compliment generating mirror work? Kinetic technology scans your body as you stand before the mirror and essentially uses context clues to select the right message to send you. Compliments run the gamut from "Your eyes are mesmerizing" to "Have you been on holiday? You're looking so relaxed."

Maybe the Motivational Mirror isn't a groundbreaking invention (or a very practical purchase), but it's nice to see brand's using the powers of technology for good, not evil.

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