New app technology measures skin ‘shininess’
Called Reflexion, the concept harnesses Bidirectional Scatter Distribution Function (BSDF), to provide a means of measuring reflected light on the skin to help determine characteristics such as wrinkles, blemishes and oily conditions, ultimately offering the ability to provide personalized recommendations for beauty products.
The technology taps into the trend for increasingly targeted and personalized beauty products that are better suited to individuals specific needs, skin types and colorings.
It also taps into the trend for beauty tech, with a plethora of highly targeted apps that are all serving to help beauty consumers make choices that are more suited to these specific needs.
Helping consumers make the right beauty choices
In the case of the Reflexion technology, the app should prove particularly helpful to consumers that want to make the right color cosmetic choices, helping them to make more informed decisions about specific foundations that might best suit their complexions.
Relfexion is based on an Artificial Intelligence-powered app that is designed to respond to specific needs by assessing just how shiny skin is, and then suggesting skin care and color cosmetic products that are best suited to the identified skin type.
The developers say that the technology requires no additional hardware, while also providing much deeper insight than basic analysis applications.
How it works...
It works by measuring the BSDF of a user’s face, defining how light is reflected or scattered differently by shiny or matt surfaces.
The app takes multiple images while illuminating the face from different angles using the mobile device’s screen, then analyses the data from the images using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to produce a map of gloss, surface roughness and reflectivity for the whole face.
“Reflexion is a breakthrough in the beauty tech market, delivering rich insights on our dermatological make-up,” said Robin Ferraby, consumer commercial manager at Cambridge Consultants.
“Using the standard camera function on our phones or tablets, Reflexion takes existing hardware components and applies AI to help visualize the secrets of our skin. We’re excited to have developed an innovative beauty technology with mass-market appeal.”
