The two companies, E Ink Holdings and TEXEN, say that they are able to offer customisable packaging displays for various beauty items: makeup compacts, perfume bottles, and other cosmetics packaging.
The technology centres on an E Ink display, which can be updated using a smartphone, they state. It comes at a time when demand for truly customisable products, from packaging through to formulation, is increasing.
“With the rise of beauty on a micro scale, our partnership with E Ink looks to enable our cosmetic customers to be the first to offer customizable digital packaging,” said Stéphane Lesprit, TexenLab Innovation Manager at TEXEN.
How does it work?
The companies have explained the science and tech behind the packaging solution.
The concept uses E Ink’s low power, high contrast paper-like display technology, mapping it onto TEXEN’s customisable beauty packaging displays.
The E Ink display, powered purely by near field communications (NFC), can be updated by a smartphone that generates radio frequency signals carrying both the information and energy needed to update the display.
Once an image is switched, the display will continue to show the information with no further power input required.
“With E Ink’s battery-free, thin, lightweight and durable technology, brands could enhance their packaging without having to alter the shape and design of their packaging, truly making this solution a first for the industry,” asserts Lesprit.
Top benefits
E Ink and TEXEN state that their packaging solution will offer the industry four key benefits, with consumer-end personalisation just one element.
- Personalization features: consumers can put their names on their makeup compacts and perfume bottles or write personal messages to gift recipients
- Neuro-cosmetics: combining well-being and a unique sensorial experience, E Ink displays will be the interface to bridge consumers’ digital lifestyle with the product itself
- Connected cosmetics: connectivity will be the vehicle for targeted advertising and social media campaigns
- DIY beauty formulation: E Ink display modules can integrate sensor or diagnostic components to enable beauty treatments based on skin condition as affected by factors such as weather, humidity, etc.
“As products and packaging design continue to go digital, ePaper is increasingly emerging as the technology of choice,” said Hui Lee, senior director for business development at E Ink.