If you salivate at the idea of waking up to the Jarvis-powered smart window from the opening minutes of Marvel’s Iron Man, then connected home appliance maker CareOS is here to make your playboy billionaire philanthropist dreams come true.
At CES 2019, the company unveiled the Artemis Smart Mirror, a device that brings health and wellness-focused personal computing to a wall-sized reflective display for salons, namely the Wella Professionals hair salon brand from beauty company Coty, as well as hotels and homes.
Image by CareOS/YouTube
Featuring touchless gesture recognition, voice commands, and a video camera (and a lens cover for privacy), the smart mirror is capable of delivering desktop and mobile computing, a voice-activated assistant, connected device control, and computer vision-based augmented reality capabilities to users. The smart mirror also enables interactivity ranging from teleconferencing and messaging to heads-up display of weather and air quality messaging and fitness coaching tips, as well as integration with other smart devices, such as showers and scales.
“Last year we launched the first health, beauty and wellness platform for the connected bathroom at CES. Our goal was to help consumers make healthier decisions and leverage advanced technologies in the bathroom without compromising privacy,” said Chloe Szulzinger, co-founder of CareOS, in a statement. “This year we are introducing the most advanced smart mirror on the market that allows consumers to manage their own health and wellness in completely new ways with an ecosystem of devices they can leverage.”
However, you’ll likely need a checking account comparable to Tony Stark or T’Challa to bring one of these into your home, as Artemis retails for $20,000. For those with the household budget to bring one of these home, then little Timmy can brush his teeth with fun AR effects. If not, you’ll have to opt for a mobile dental hygiene experience.
Image by CareOS/YouTube
As for the average consumer, the more likely interactions with Artemis when it begins shipping in the second half of 2019 will come through salons and hotels that opt to install the devices in their businesses. One of CareOS’s early retail partners, Coty, worked with the company to customize Artemis for its Wella Professionals salon brand. Previously, Coty deployed a different cosmetics smart mirror, developed in partnership with computer vision company PERCH Interactive and augmented reality firm Holition, at its Bourjois boutique in Paris.
“We are incredibly excited about this breakthrough innovation, allowing hair professionals, the original image and change makers in beauty, to take their consultation with their clients to the next level,” said Laura Simpson, Coty Professional Beauty chief marketing officer, in a statement.
“With the new Wella Professionals Smart Mirror, clients can have an even more customized session with their stylist, visualize their desired color before application, as well as maintain the relationship and service after the salon visit. Co-developed with stylists, with this new tool we are enabling them to build stronger consultations and relationships with their clients, which is critical in our industry.”
In fact, most of the augmented reality skills of Artemis cater specifically to the beauty and cosmetics industry. The smart mirror can facilitate virtual try-on experiences that enable customers to view shades of lipstick or eyeliner on the interactive display, and offers augmented reality tutorials that show customers had to apply makeup or do their hair to arrive at the celebrity-influenced look that they covet. In Coty’s implementation for Wella Professionals, the smart mirror will leverage Perfect Corp’s YouCam platform for live hair color try-ons.
Image by CareOS/YouTube
While virtual try-on experiences are common among mobile AR apps and other smart mirrors, Artemis also offers 360 degree video capture. This enables customers to see the progress of their hair style during their salon appointments.
Artemis has a other few computer vision tricks up its sleeve as well. With facial recognition, retailers can personalize the customer experience by recommending purchases based on a customers’ shopping history or suggest salon services based on their personal preferences. Meanwhile, object recognition makes it possible for customers to hold up products to the smart mirror and access other virtual try-on and AR tutorial experiences.
Oops! Image by CareOS/YouTube
“This breakthrough ecosystem empowers stylists and addresses many of the pain points associated with the salon hair color category,” said Elodie Levy, senior director of digital innovation at Coty. “Clients fear getting an unexpected color result and the use of augmented reality for trying on hair color shades in the salon is a game changer to address this challenge. Further, we’ve created a flexible and portable platform that can be scaled across salons of all sizes, a major step in reinventing the salon experience for all.”
While the sizzle reel from CareOS dazzles its audience with futuristic use cases, it should be noted that the video is as CGI-heavy as a Marvel film. That’s not to say that Artemis is all smoke and mirrors, but manage your expectations of the product accordingly. Or, if you’re at CES, stop by the booth of CareOS parent company Baracoda Group to see if the smart mirror matches the marketing.