Beauty giant L’Oreal has unveiled a smart hairbrush packed with sensors to help consumers improve their brushing technique.
The Hair Coach, which will retail at just under $200 (£160), contains a microphone, gyroscope and accelerometer among other sensors.
It also vibrates if you brush too hard.
The brush is one of a handful of new beauty gadgets that have been announced at this year’s CES tech show in Las Vegas.
The brush’s in-built microphone records the sounds of breaking hair. The firm says the other sensors are used to build up a profile of the way the owner looks after their hair.
The brush then shares the data via wi-fi or Bluetooth to an app.
The software uses the information to assess hair quality and monitor the effects of different routines – as well as recommending products.
“You’d be surprised by how many women around the world are concerned about hair breakage,” Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oreals’ research and innovation technology incubator told the BBC.
“One of the biggest challenges when brushing your hair is making sure you don’t brush too hard and break the fibres.
“That can lead to damage of hair that doesn’t look good for consumers.”
Other gadgets vying to become part of tech savvy beauty routines at CES include:
- Samsung’s S-Skin – a skin analysis gadget that analyses the user’s skin and recommends “micro-needle” patches to tackle wrinkles, blemishes or even whiten the skin
- Apira Science‘s iDerma – a face mask with LEDs that is claimed to reduce the effects of ageing
- ModiFace Skin AI – augmented reality technology that seeks to analyse the condition of the subject’s skin via a live camera view before suggesting appropriate beauty products to try
“I am sure there are people who care about their hair quality that much – if you think that a good hair straightener costs around $90, $200 does not seem that bad,” said tech analyst Caroline Milanesi of Creative Strategies.
“That said, I feel we will have a lot of things that companies will add sensors to just because they can.”
Health and beauty tech is generally acknowledged as an as-yet unproven gadget category, but many brands are now developing devices with the hope of snagging an early corner of the market.
L’Oreal’s Hair Coach has been developed over the last 18 months as a partnership between its brand Kerastase and Withings, which is owned by former smartphone maker Nokia.
The brush is battery-powered with disposable batteries and has no charging port.
“There is limited real estate on the bathroom in terms of charging stations,” said Mr Balooch.
He added that the device is water resistant but not fully waterproof and will be marketed as a luxury product when it launches later this year.
“CES 2017: Smart hairbrush listens for breaking hair”
SHOULDN’T HAVE READ THIS TO JILL………………. SHE’S STILL CACKLING…………….
“The brush’s in-built microphone records the sounds of breaking hair.”
If the microphone can record the sound of breaking hair, it can and will hear every conversation in the house.
“The brush then shares the data via wi-fi or Bluetooth to an app.”
And of course, it’s important that the sound of your “hair breaking” is broadcast over the internet, right?
Anyone who buys this thing is an idiot. Plain and simple.
YEP….. THATS WHY JILL IS STILL CACKLING………….
Exactly.
I’ll admit that it’s POSSIBLE this device isn’t spying on people. The microphone MIGHT only have a response at very high frequencies and so might not be practical for recording speech. But who would ever take that chance?
If it has wireless capability and it isn’t my computer or phone, then it doesn’t enter my house. Even with those two things I take precautions.
(Laughing) Indeed!
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I have and inverted Mohawk…
hahahahaha
I’m brushing my ass crack with it now.
“Can you hear me now”?
What’s next a tampon with a camera inside?
Hope Big Brother can hear what my ass is saying.
this brush needs to be shoved up Podesta’s A55!!!
oh on second thought the Pedophile would probably like that , now wouldnt he?
yeah a brush that listens to the sound of yer hair breaking , ummm like thats such an important issue now a days .. WTF people ? seriously?
I always wondered what my neighbors were talking about half a mile away. I’m sure this brush is recording every conversation for a mile and sending the results directly to the NSA and Tel Aviv. I’ve always suspected my computer screen is spying on me. All they will hear at my place is #$%#$% dogs, shut the F up.
L’Oreal’s spokesperson says: This has been a pubic hair announcement. Haha!
OMG! How ridiculous. Dishwashers, refrigerators, and now hairbrushes. Where does the madness end! Gotta spy on every American national. Yes, cause we want your heads on a platter!
two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead… is it coming to this in real life?
seems the Clintons think so
cant even have a private conversation in yer own living room, yet Hildabeast can lie her way thru millions of our dollars and cant get prosecuted?
yep were doingiti wrong people