--- title: 'Build smart display devices with Mir: fast to production, secure, open-source' description: Industrial robots, home appliances, advertising screens, office information boards… devices of every type around us are getting connected. As they do, their screens turn from single purpose displays to reconfigurable, multi-purpose smart display. As the amount of code required to build these displays, the production time and maintenance burden have increased, this has prompted device manufacturers to reconsider how they can build smart display devices faster and more securely based on open source frameworks. url: https://canonical.com/blog/build-smart-display-devices-with-mir-fast-to-production-secure-open-source --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Alex Cattle](https://canonical.com/blog/author/cattleaej "More about Alex Cattle") 29 November 2019 # Build smart display devices with Mir: fast to production, secure, open-source [Display](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/display) [Internet of things](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/internet-of-things) [IoT](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/iot) [Ubuntu](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/ubuntu) --- Share the article Industrial robots, home appliances, advertising screens, office information boards… devices of every type around us are getting connected. As they do, their screens turn from single purpose displays to reconfigurable, multi-purpose smart display. As the amount of code required to build these displays, the production time and maintenance burden have increased, this has prompted device manufacturers to reconsider how they can build smart display devices faster and more securely based on open source frameworks. Mir is a library for writing graphical shells for Linux and similar operating systems. Compared to traditional display servers, it offers numerous benefits that are important for IoT devices: efficiency, speed of development, security, performance, and flexibility. All are required by the devices of today, and even more so for the devices of tomorrow. In this whitepaper we’ll explain how Mir, alongside Ubuntu Core and Snapcraft, lets developers build devices that are ready for the future of IoT, while offering stable, secure and performant solutions to the problems the industry faces today. In this whitepaper you will learn: * The history of Mir and why it was developed to solve reusability and security issues in IoT2 * The technical architecture of the Mir display library and how Mir compares to alternative IoT technologies * Example use cases of Mir and how to get started on your smart display project with Mir [Download the whitepaper](https://assets.ubuntu.com/v1/b26b4bb7-building_custom_wayland_compositors_made_simple_with_mir.pdf) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. In submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Notice](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy/contact) and [Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Ubuntu now certified on Qualcomm Dragonwing™ IQ-8275](https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-now-certified-on-qualcomm-dragonwing-iq-8275) Sep 8, 2026 – Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announce the general availability of certified Ubuntu 24.04 LTS images for the Qualcomm Dragonwing™ IQ-8275 Evaluation... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 8 September 2026 [### Arduino® VENTUNO™ Q is available for pre-order with Ubuntu pre-installed](https://canonical.com/blog/arduino-ventuno-q-is-available-for-pre-order-with-ubuntu-pre-installed) London, UK – August 25, 2026 – Following our initial collaboration announcement in March 2026, Canonical and Arduino (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.) are excited... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 25 August 2026 [### Canonical announces the alpha release of Charmed OpenShell to help secure autonomous AI agent fleets](https://canonical.com/blog/charmed-openshell-alpha-release) To streamline enterprise deployment and lifecycle management, Canonical is announcing the alpha release of Charmed OpenShell. [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 28 September 2026 [### Ubuntu coming soon to Snapdragon X2 Series platforms, unlocking more Linux PCs for the agentic world](https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-coming-soon-to-qualcomm-snapdragon-x2-series-platforms) Canonical and Qualcomm Technologies announce upcoming native Ubuntu support for Qualcomm’s flagship laptop silicon, delivering multi-day battery life, 80 TOPS NPU acceleration,... [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical) 23 September 2026