Achieving increased levels of diversity and inclusion is a common measure of success for many companies today; not only to realize a representative cultural balance in the workplace, but in an effort to create a more diverse and broad range of products and services.
Boticário Group, one of the top-15 beauty companies in the world, has seven proprietary brands present in 16 countries, and it aims to expand diversity and inclusion in the beauty sector. The organization aims for 100 percent of its items to be designed with the participation of minority groups, and for its product portfolio to be diverse and inclusive with different lifestyles by 2030.
With the goal of understanding its customers on a broad scale, and responding quickly to their needs, Boticário Group turned to CESAR to develop a beauty solution for individuals with visual and motor impairments, as well as upper-limb restrictions.
The goal was to develop an artificial intelligence-based technology capable of automatically applying lipstick without smudging, accurately distinguishing between lip and facial skin.
The Challenge: Smart Lipstick with Precise Application
The concept of Smart Lipstick originated inside Boticário’s technology labs. In the early stages of development, the group faced a dilemma: distinguishing face skin from lip skin, a crucial aspect for enabling the efficiency of a smart and precise lipstick application.
Boticário Group brought this challenge to CESAR in the quest to solve the challenge through advanced technology. To start, a team of students from different fields, worked from ideation through research, experimentation, and the development of a prototype for the smart device under the supervision of CESAR’s top experts in the field.
The Solution: Use of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
Throughout the six-week program, students conducted research on skin ink application techniques, even studying ink printers on skin, which proved to be crucial for creating a foundation for the development of an innovative solution.
Participants recognized the existence of different skin types, such as male skin, mature skin, face marks, and lips with distinct contours and textures. All these factors needed to be taken into account in developing the A.I. so that the eventual Smart Lipstick product offering could cater to people with various characteristics and challenges.
During the development process, 263 women of different ages were interviewed to gain insights into their difficulties applying lipstick. Additionally, participants visited the Boticário factory to better understand and engage in makeup research and development methods, in addition to visiting retail stores to better comprehend the specifics of beauty products.
After the research phase, the student group supervised by CESAR professionals identified the use of artificial intelligence, specifically image processing methods, as a potential solution for differentiating various people’s facial skin from lips.
The device’s technology will be equipped with algorithms capable of recognizing and delineating lip contours more precisely, and then sending coordinates for application. The device will feature sound cues to designate the start and end of the lipstick application with the assistance of an intelligent display for the users’ face positioning.
Beyond the Challenge
A significant highlight of the program was the students’ desire to go beyond by exploring areas where they lacked knowledge but had a keen interest. They decided to create an app that not only recognized the user’s lips but analyzed the health of their skin simultaneously. In the app-creation process, they worked on design concepts, brand identity, promotion, and market integration, all within the framework of a marketing plan.
This R&D breakthrough became possible due to CESAR’s Summer Job format, which provided participants with the opportunity to work and socialize with individuals of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures. The initial Smart Lipstick project, for example, included students and mentors from various parts of the country, such as Ceará, Piauí, Paraná, and Pernambuco, who engaged in various fields, fostering a culturally diverse and enriching environment.
“This interdisciplinary approach made us realize how enriching it is to have such diversity in the development process. It was this diversity of knowledge and contributions that made the project possible.” — Beatriz Bonafini, participant in the Smart Lipstick edition of CESAR Summer Job program and, currently, data scientist at CESAR.
Boticário was always following the student’s activities, both in person and remotely. Its executive support was given from the project’s ideation to the moment of pitching the solution, which was, in fact, held at the headquarters of Boticário Group in the presence of its CEO.
After the prototype was completed, the group presented the project to all stakeholders, and the feedback was very enthusiastic about the possibility of developing the device with such technology, especially within Brazil, where Boticário Group was founded.
Post-Summer Job Program: Prototype Development
One of the significant benefits of CESAR’s Summer Job program is that studies and prototypes can later be developed into innovative products by the sponsoring companies, which was the case with the development of Smart Lipstick for Boticário Group.
After the completion of the program, the group once again enlisted the support of CESAR, this time to advance the prototype in a new cycle where a team of developers from the CESAR’s Innovation Center worked to enhance the solution.
Initially, the project was divided into two phases: one focused on studying the state of the art in science and engineering and the second to identify the technical and commercial feasibility of developing the smart device. In both phases, the results obtained were quite promising, indicating the feasibility of the experiment and the continuation of the development process.
Next, we initiated the third phase of the project, which has focused on the continuous development of prototypes for a potential product. The executed steps were:
- Refinement of lip region segmentation techniques
- Comprehensive study of application hardware
- UX experts’ consultancy on possible solutions
- Creation, evolution, and validation of prototypes
The goal of the third phase is to identify alternatives for improvement and integration of A.I. (from the previous stages) with an IoT device that enables the discovery and measurement of lipstick application art on a mannequin’s lips.
Finally, CESAR delivered a report with complementary studies on lip segmentation, devices used in application, and possible methods for the Smart Lipstick, along with a prototype of the application device to Boticário Group.
“We loved working with the CESAR team; it’s a highly committed group with a genuine dedication to our cause. They grasped the challenges within our industry segment and sought ways to address the challenge. The team’s cohesion and the technical expertise they brought to help us with the project development were amazing. It’s always an incredible experience. CESAR has become highly esteemed and recognized by us.” — Milene Haraguchi, R&D Scientist at Boticário Group.
Today, the high-fidelity prototype continues its development in a partnership between CESAR and the startup Neurobots to enable Boticário Group to achieve its goal of increasing inclusion through technology. Beatriz, a student and participant in the program at the time, joined the CESAR team as a data scientist. She worked until early 2021 on the development of the prototype she helped create, and later served as a mentor for future editions of the CESAR Summer Job program.
A program that transforms companies and individuals
The CESAR Summer Job program impacts the lives of students and transforms organizations. In just six weeks, attendees gain practical experience, and companies identify new talent while developing prototypes and proposals that can become innovative products.