Shiseido launches new IoT personalised skin care system

Japanese personal care company, Shiseido, prepares to release its personalised skin care system, Optune, which utilises the Internet of Things (IoT).

The launch

The new skin care system, named Optune, aims to achieve skin care personalisation by pairing digital technology with cutting-edge skin science and beauty research. The test sale of the β version will begin in spring 2018 in Japan.

Following this test launch, the brand hopes to spark a full-scale subsequent introduction.

New-age skin care

Leveraging the IoT, the skin care system uses a special machine supported by unique algorithms to meet skin care needs in real time. The technology uses skin measurement data from dedicated application software, which is downloaded into a smartphone (iPhone), alongside current environmental data.

The “personalised skin care system”, has been designed to modify and adapt according to each individual’s skin care needs in real time to produce a healthy and moisturised condition.

The dedicated app can also measure the skin and analyse data including the weather, mood, and condition, along with data regarding skin care patterns that are derived using algorithms. Once these have been communicated to a specific machine, these will identify and provide a serum and moisturiser combination, customised to the user’s skin type.

To help with future use, the app will record the consumer’s skin condition relating to factors such as mood, condition and age, and changes in environmental conditions to enable them to review their skin information from anywhere at anytime.

Personalised beauty

“We focused on the possibility of delivering the optimum beauty solution to each and every consumer by coupling new digital technology with Shiseido’s research findings, which have long been accumulated through observations of a vast array of skin conditions,” Shiseido announced in a recent press release.

“We developed a new IoT-based skin care system, with the desire to not only support individual skin types but also confront all changes in the environment that surrounds our consumers’ skin, including changes in their skin, body, and mind at different times, as a beauty professional.”

How it works

Shiseido’s latest offering comprises the “Optune zero” special IoT machine and the dedicated “Optune App”, which interact via the cloud. Together, these identify specific skin conditions such as texture, pores, and moisture content, by taking a photo of your skin with a smartphone.

“The system collects and analyses various data, including skin data measured by the App, environmental data such as temperature and humidity, and data relating to menstrual cycle, mood, and condition, in order to learn about our individual consumers, and determine patterns of necessary skincare in real time using algorithms unique to ‘Optune’,” Shiseido went on to say.  

The skin care product filled in a cartridge set in Shiseido’s specific machine. This skin care system, named TimeTune care, provides two-step care that is selected from over 1,000 patterns of serum and moisturiser combinations and supports users' skin according to their skin condition.  

The details of the β version sale will be announced on the Optune brand website in mid-January 2018.