At last week’s CES conference, the beauty giant revealed its latest gadget, which apparently builds on the research from its team in Japan that found a way to use sound to measure friction.
The brush is a recipient of this year’s International CES Innovation Award, which celebrates outstanding product design and engineering in new consumer technology products.
Brushing up
Released as a partnership between the company’s luxury hair care company, Kérastase, and Nokia-owned tech player Withings, the new brush is described as the ‘world’s first’ smart hairbrush.
The device includes a microphone for picking up the sound of brushing, 2-axis load cells for measuring the force applied, conductivity sensors to pick up how wet your hair is, and accelerometer and gyroscope - the data collected is then collected and relayed back to the user via an app.
The app then offers customised advice on how the user can better look after their hair. According to Withings, once connected to the app the brush does all the work, meaning the user can just start brushing. It is set to hit the market from mid-2017 via select Kérastaste hair salons, its website and via Withings’ online sales and distribution channels. It will retail at ‘under $200’.
Transformative beauty tech
The brush launch is just the next step on beauty’s journey to a vastly more connected offering when it comes to appliances, apps and customisation, according L’Oréal.
“Technology is transforming consumers’ daily beauty routines, and smart devices have huge potential to impact how we care for our hair and skin,” said Guivee Balooch, Global Vice President of L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation Technology Incubator.
“By using connected technologies to upgrade the hairbrush — something the average consumer uses every day — Withings and Kérastase have reinvented what a person’s relationship with their hair can look like and are showing how connected devices can revolutionize the beauty industry.”
Vincent Nida, General Manager of Kérastase, commented: “With the Kérastase Hair Coach Powered by Withings’ personalized data and real-time product recommendations, we are bringing new insights to customers’ homes for an even more bespoke hair care experience.”