This Smart Hair Brush Is Poised to Transform the Way You Care for Your Strands
May 09, 2017
In our world of ever-present “smart” technology, the sky’s the limit. Things we could have never dreamt to be reality are now the tools with which we operate our day-to-day lives—and it’s only evolving with each passing day. Smart technology has even infiltrated the beauty world, where you can now find an LED face mask, a game-changing cleansing device that can help address visible signs of aging, and—wait for it—a smart hair brush that provides information on the quality of your hair and brushing patterns. That’s right, the world’s first-ever smart hair brush—a three-way collaboration between Kérastase, Withings and L’Oréal’s Research and Innovation Technology Incubator—is here to revolutionize the mundane task of brushing your tresses.
If your hair brush could talk, what would it say about your mane? Thanks to Kérastase Hair Coach Powered by Withings, you can now help eliminate the guesswork…sort of. The brush features Withings’ advanced sensors along with L’Oréal’s patent-pending signal analysis algorithms to score the quality of hair and monitor the effects of different hair care routines. These sensors feed data automatically via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to a dedicated mobile app that provides additional insights and customized product recommendations—from Kérastase, of course—to help consumers better care for their hair. By tracking how a person brushes and factoring in aspects of daily life (including weather factors like humidity and UV!), the smart brush app provides valuable information one may otherwise be unaware of, helping to reduce the risk of over-brushing and breakage.
If you thought that was neat, wait until you hear exactly what this smart hair brush includes. Kérastase Hair Coach Powered by Withings features a microphone that listens to the sound of hair brushing to identify patterns, three-axis load cells that measure the force applied to the hair while brushing, an accelerometer and a gyroscope that analyze brushing patterns and count brush strokes, as well as conductivity sensors to determine if the brush is being used on dry or wet hair. As for how to use the brush itself, the simple act of brushing kick-starts the data collection process.
“Technology is transforming consumers’ daily beauty routines, and smart devices have huge potential to impact how we care for our hair and skin,” said Guive 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.”
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