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Just a year ago, the progress being made in artificial intelligence was impressive, but the leaps the technology was taking were gradual. The introduction of ChatGPT, however, sparked a revolution in generative AI and opened the door for countless industries from content creation to eCommerce to experiment.
One industry, beauty tech, had already been leveraging AI and augmented reality (AR) to transform the consumer experience and provide better engagement and enrichment with products virtually. Now, as generative AI continues to fuel this exponential evolution, beauty tech is taking giant leaps that only a year ago may have seemed impossible.
In a recent keynote address at the Global Beauty and Fashion Tech Forum, Perfect Corp. Founder and CEO Alice Chang traced the evolution of AI in beauty tech from its humble origins just eight years ago through its meteoric growth and industry adoption, all the way to the future possibilities and capabilities the technology has to offer.
Watch the full presentation below:
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Highlighting the Exponential Rise of AI in Beauty Tech
While multiple industries have been using AI and AR for years, its applications within the beauty, fashion and skincare space has been truly game-changing. Particularly as pandemic-era precautions forced consumers to shop remotely, traditionally tried-on products like clothing and cosmetics had to adapt to the times.
“Beauty and fashion are those two industries I saw with the fastest adoption of the tech, especially AI and AR, in recent years,” Alice says.
Perfect Corp., the industry leader in AI and AR beauty tech, for example, has served more than 500 global brands since its launch in 2015. Though Perfect Corp. is a leading example, they’re certainly not an anomaly.
Beauty and fashion tech has seen 300% growth since 2018, and the market is expected to grow by 47% by 2026. The top 20 beauty groups have a 100% adoption rate of the technology; leaders in the industry are seeing the potential in beauty tech and investing accordingly.
As these adoption rates have skyrocketed, so have the capabilities of the technology. Initially launched as a tool that used a phone camera for virtual try-on (VTO) of makeup and cosmetics, the tech evolved to include skin tone analysis, hair color VTO, skin diagnosis and skincare simulation, nail color VTO, and, through the development of AI diffusion models, virtual avatars that can be used to visualize nearly infinite cosmetic and fashion options.
Now, as generative AI begins to impact beauty tech, we’re just beginning to scratch the surface of its future applications. Or, as Alice says, “I really think that the message is: making the impossible possible. That's the new AI generation.”
How AI is Transforming Beauty Tech and Where It’s Headed
The strides made in AI over the last eight years have been truly staggering, and where we are today is transforming how brands are able to enrich the consumer experience. To truly appreciate how far this tech has come, we need to look at the individual applications of AI beauty tech.
- Cosmetics: Makeup VTO was one of the first applications of AR in beauty tech. What began as a basic AR camera experience that enabled users to try on different shades of lipstick and eye shadow has now expanded to include more challenging cosmetic types like blush and self tanning products. What’s more, new engines in AI have enabled users to virtually try on multiple types of makeup at the same time to get a better sense of what products work well together.
- Skincare: AI and AR Skincare started with a simple photo upload that would then be used by AI analysis to diagnose probable skin conditions. AI has evolved so much that users can now take a live video of their face and have AI analyze more than a dozen skin features.
- Nails: One of the major challenges early on in AI and AR beauty tech was hand recognition. Unlike the face which remains generally static, hands require 360-degree visualization to provide accurate VTO. AI is now advanced enough to provide that 360-degree view which enables users to try on nearly infinite color options for their nails, in addition to different shapes and press-on styles.
- Jewelry: The advances made in 360-degree visualization made it so brands could provide customers with VTO of watches, bracelets and more, in addition to other jewelry VTO like necklaces and earrings. Brands can even build their own 3D-modeled jewelry specifically for AI so users can virtually try on specific products.
- Fashion: Generative AI technology has unlocked new possibilities for the fashion world. In Perfect Corp.’s YouCam Suite of Apps, users can upload a photo and visualize unlimited fashion looks in seconds through the power of generative AI.
All of these advances have contributed to an overall ecosystem of AR and AI beauty tech that is revolutionizing how consumers engage with products virtually. Maybe key among these advancements has been the ability to stack and melt these different AI engines so users can try on makeup, jewelry, nail colors and more simultaneously.
“Merge the virtual world into the real world, from the real world to the virtual world,” as Alice describes it.
As we look to the future, generative AI will accelerate all of these engines to provide a truly unique customer experience. Areas that have been challenging for former AI models like clothing VTO are already being transformed by the introduction of generative AI.
Brands can even incorporate AR technology directly into targeted ads to provide customers with a personalized VTO experience within the advertising they engage with.
It’s an exciting time to be in the AI beauty tech space. Not only is the industry growing, but the technology underpinning it is advancing at an exponential pace to provide users with a truly unique and delightful shopping experience that encourages them to form long-lasting bonds with the brands they love.
Get expert advice from Perfect Corp. and be part of the beauty tech trend. Contact us for details on beauty tech solutions trusted by 500+ brands globally.
