The concept started as a gift: Toye Onikoyi, a University of Rhode Island graduate who was working as an engineer at Rite-Solutions Inc. in Middletown, wanted to give his girlfriend an anniversary present that would have practical, everyday use.
This idea became the first Muse Mirror, an interactive device that streamlines beauty routines, video calls, calendar reminders, streaming services and other daily activities into one, reflective surface.
“It’s a way you can multitask,” Onikoyi said, “so you can have your mirror, listen to music, look at calendar events, Netflix and YouTube without a phone – it’s all embedded into the mirror.”
The mirror, at 2 feet tall and 16 inches wide, also allows users to shop and try on different products through augmented reality. Using the mirror’s video calling capabilities, they can connect with stylists and makeup artists for beauty tutorials.
“It’s kind of like a social interaction with a makeup artist on your time,” Onikoyi said.
Soon after presenting the gift to his girlfriend, the product, which Onikoyi developed on the side as he worked his day job, sparked attention on social media, he recalled.
“She posted it online, and it went viral,” Onikoyi said, “and I decided to make a company out of it.”
Since then, the four-person team of URI graduates behind the company, Muse LLC, which is doing business as Muse Interactive, has won statewide pitch competitions held by RIHub and the Rhode Island Black Business Association. The product has been available for preorder at $799, with the first batch of orders slated to reach customers in July.
The missing piece was testing the mirror with users, Onikoyi said. To fill in this gap, the Muse Mirror recently spent a month at the Providence Place mall in May, where mallgoers were able to try the mirror at a kiosk, give feedback and preorder the product.
Muse Interactive is now moving forward on marketing using data it collected at Providence Place, Onikoyi said.
“What we were able to do at the mall, I don’t think we would be able to do in any other setting in Rhode Island that rapidly,” he said. “We gained a lot of insight into our product and what features customers are most interested in. It’s proven data – it’s not a hypothesis. That’s the great part of it. We’re now going to take that marketing strategy online and do direct-to-consumer sales online.”
The company is also deepening its focus on interactive beauty features and is currently recruiting makeup artists and estheticians to work with customers as certified Muse makeup artists.
Many people that the team interacted with at the mall see the mirror as having the same potential that Onikoyi initially saw in the idea, he said.
“One of the things we noticed … is a lot of people were interested in it for not just themselves but as a gift,” Onikoyi said.
The mirror also seems to appeal to people who have already invested in a vanity or “glam room” in their homes as an “ultimate upgrade for that,” he added.
