Well, we have smart mirrors to tell us who’s the fairest of them all, so why not a beauty wand to spirit away age spots? That seems to be the point of the new Opté Precision Skincare system, a new product produced by a Procter and Gamble-backed startup being promoted at CES.
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Once known as the Opté Beauty Wand, the digital skin care device is pretty cutting-edge. The device uses a digital camera with blue LED lights to scan and detect areas of skin discoloration, enabling the on-board camera to see up to three times more pigmentation than the human eye.
The aforementioned digital camera captures 200 skin images per second, resulting in about 24,000 pictures of skin analyzed with each use.
Once the images of your lovely face have been captured, a minicomputer precise color algorithm processes some 70,000 lines of code to determine the size, shape, and intensity of the area of discoloration (read: spot) in contrast to the surrounding skin.
Here’s where it gets kind of weird, thanks to a new technology called microfluidics. “Micro-what-now?” you might ask. Microfluidics deals with the behavior, precise control, and manipulation of fluids that are geometrically constrained to a small, typically sub-millimeter scale at which capillary penetration governs mass transport. Got it?
Okay, it’s makeup, but on a microscopic scale. Finally, a micro printer with 120 thermal inkjet nozzles thinner than a human hair deposits 1,000 Optimizing Serum picoliter droplets — that’s one billionth of a liter for those of you who aren’t chemists or into micro cuisine or anything — to achieve ultra-precise coverage of the spot with 99 percent less product applied to the skin. Opté says the serum utilizes a patented blend of mineral pigments and skin care ingredients, which not only disappear blemishes but also make them fade over time.
“By partnering with leading scientists and experts across industries, we have been able to create a first-of-its-kind, digitally-advanced skincare device that is visibly transforming the look of skin,” said Leigh Radford, Vice President and General Manager of P&G Ventures in a release. “Opté provides Procter & Gamble with an entirely new category of digital skincare to explore and a technology platform from which to innovate. We’re thrilled to introduce Opté on a world stage such as CES.”
Opté’s skincare solution is just one of a half-dozen products that Procter and Gamble is launching at CES 2019 including an artificial intelligence (A.I.)-enabled skin advisor platform from Olay, the Oral-B Genius X Toothbrush, a Heated Razor from P&G’s GilletteLabs, and a home fragrance system from Airia. Additional products are expected to be introduced on Tuesday in P&G’s LifeLab exhibit.
“We’re living in a time of mass disruption, where the exponential power of technology combined with shifting societal and environmental forces are transforming consumer experiences every day,” said chief brand officer Marc Pritchard in a release. “P&G is integrating cutting-edge technologies into everyday products and services to improve people’s lives. We’re combining what’s needed with what’s possible.”
In other news, P&G Ventures recent issued a formal invitation to all entrepreneurs, inventors, visionaries and startups to submit a product for consideration to win an all-expense paid trip to pitch live on the P&G stage at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. The winner of the pitch will receive $10,000, qualify as a finalist in a Techstars accelerator, and be provided complimentary attendance to the EY Strategic Growth Forum.
