HOW YOU WILL LOOK IN 5 YEARS

The wicked queen in Snow White had a magic mirror that told the truth. French scientists have gone one better. They have a mirror that will tell the ugly truth as to how you will look 5 years from today!

They have fashioned a thinking looking glass that will offer a reflection of the future, after years of binge drinking and junk food have taken their toll, according to New Scientist today. This mirror will know you better than you know yourself, and never fail to tell you so.

Researchers at Accenture Technology, in Sophia Antipolis near Nice, have devised a flat liquid crystal display television screen linked to a set of cameras and some powerful image processing technology. Its first role is to capture the real you, the one you present to the screen.

But the computer-powered mirror will also be picking up data from a network of discreet spy cameras around the house, which will monitor the time spent watching television, eating pizzas, drinking beer and paying sly visits to the fridge and the biscuit barrel. It will also ask – by vocal or text messages – to confirm the pattern of self-indulgence.

One part of the program will calculate the extra weight. Another will contemplate the ravages of time and dissolution on the face itself. Too much alcohol? The toll, five years on, will show up immediately in blotchy skin and early wrinkles.

A prototype could be ready this summer.