The latest trend being spotted in the health and beauty arena is L’Oreal’s stretchable skin sensor designed to monitor ultraviolet light exposure via a wearable called My UV Patch. With a late 2016 release slated, is this the start of futuristic beauty?
The exciting part is that the brainiacs over at L’Oreal are not the only ones experimenting with wearable technology. Many scientists and experts have started putting their minds into it as well. Here are some of their hobbyhorses.
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Digital Deodrant
Last year, Google was granted the patent for a “digital deodorant”, which is a teeny wearable fan equipped with odor-sensing machinery. The gadget emits a gush of deodorizer the moment it detects a foul whiff. Here’s the really interesting bit, the user would also be notified about the stench via social media along with an alternate GPS routes to avoid walking by friends with sound olfactory powers.
Eventhough, the fact whether the company will pursue the idea further is unknown, how many public transport-using takers for this gadget?
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Conductive Ink
Skin-safe conductive ink, which uses carbon particles to transmit minute electric currents (yikes!) across the surface of the skin, has been here for quite some time now. Among many others testing the invention, software design company Chaotic Moon Studios has crafted temporary tattoos that can monitor health info.
Wonder what’ll happen if we shed a tear, sweat or worse, if it rains?
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Moisturizer Patch
Scholars at the Northwestern University and University of Illinois have devised a skin patch that monitors temperature changes at the skin’s surface. These changes can indicate changes in blood flow rate, which can give insight into skin hydration levels. The patch is made of 3,600 tiny liquid crystals on a stretchable substrate.
Although, unlike the digital deodorant the patch will not secrete moisturizer or spray anything, the crystals change color as temperature shifts, and an algorithm translates the data, in turn letting you know when your skin needs tonic.
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Conductive Fake Nails
Brazilian computer scientist Katia Vega likes a healthy dose of beauty with science. Her Beauty Tech Nails are fake fingernails implanted with radio frequency identification chips that can activate various electronics. Although, the product will not be on the market yet, her research is likely to fuel numerous other innovations.
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My UV Patch
So your sunscreen prides itself with an SPF 10,000? That’s great. How do you know it’s working, though? Probably the sun requires double the SPF you’ve slapped on. And maybe you’ll end up with nasty sunburns. Not anymore (hopefully). My UV Patch from L’Oréal contains photosensitive dyes that change color when exposed to UV rays. The ballyhooed heart-shaped adhesive patch is about one square inch in size and half the thickness of a strand of hair. It monitors the user’s skin tone and can be worn beneath sunscreen. The patch will be available in the market later this year.
P.S. The companies suggest this will not be the only beauty wearable to come out of the partnership. So you might actually lay your hands on the digital deo and gift it to that friend you think is actually a pig in disguise. Amen to that.
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