People have diverse skin concerns and cosmetic needs. While the market has many choices meeting these needs, choosing the right one for one’s specific conditions is time-consuming and sometimes, quite difficult. A smart dispenser, Perso, developed by the personal care company L’Oréal, tries to provide personalized cosmetics. It can provide lipstick of customized color, foundation of customized shade, or customized skin-care mixture. The device comes with a mobile app. A user starts with taking selfies with the mobile app. The photos are analyzed by AI for fine lines, spots, pore visibility, wrinkles, and other skin conditions. Then with geo-location data, the system considers the environmental conditions that affect skin such as temperature, air quality, humidity, UV index, and pollen. The system also considers personal skincare concerns and preferences from user input in the app, for example pigmentation and dullness, as well as preferred texture and hydration level. Based on these data, a personalized mixture is dispensed from the device, which contains three interchangeable cartridges. Specifically, the device has a motor system that can compress the contents of three cartridges in right proportions to the dispensing tray above to be mixed into a final cosmetic product. This top tray is mirrored and detachable, which can serve on-the-go. Specifically, if Perso is used for lipstick, it would contain 3 lipstick cartridges with different colors. A user can use the mobile app to select the desired color, such as some color matching a dress or pair of shoes. Perso would then dispense the right blend of lipstick contents. If foundation is needed, Perso would be equipped with 3 cartridges of different shades of foundation to produce a perfect shade for the user’s skin tone. Perso may also be equipped with 3 cartridges of serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen, respectively, to produce skin-care mix. The cartridges are purchased automatically when refill is needed. Importantly, the smart device assesses skin conditions over time and adapts based on what is working. It also collects real-time data for trend analysis and product recommendation.
Link: video
Location: France
Summary
Purpose
Make personalized cosmetics
Idea
Use a mobile app that collects and analyzes the needs to direct the production
Further Possibilities
1. Use voice demand on Perso
2. Make a device that produces customized food/drink
3. Use selfies to customize hats/shoes/clothes
4. Use Perso for air freshener
5. Motorized closet that recommends clothes
Questions
1. What might be all the things that should not be customized?
2. Other than using mobile apps, how else can we mass-customize products?
3. What might be all the variables we can measure for a customer?
