Searching for beauty products online is frustrating: it is virtually impossible to find a foundation match online, and it’s even harder for those with deeper skin tones. With more than 100M foundation users in the US alone, and the majority of those women struggling to find their correct shade, RingoAI's first product, the MySkin™ App, addresses one of the beauty industry’s biggest pain points - delivering shade recommendations consumers can trust and skintone data that brands and retailers need!
Introduced in March of 2022, mySkin™ is based on a breakthrough innovation, which enables smartphones to accurately measure all skin tones. The app enables consumers to measure their skin tone in the comfort of their home and proprietary algorithms use this information to identify a perfect foundation match. From day one RingoAI has worked hard to ensure their approach works for the amazingly diverse range of skin tones found around the world. RingoAI fundamentally changes the way cameras see skin and delivers compelling e-commerce solutions for people of every color.
The RingoAI team, ‘where science meets beauty’, combines experienced executives from the beauty industry with experts in imaging, optics and AI. Founded by a team of scientists and technologists who have successfully launched several deep-tech products, the RingoAI team is dedicated to solving the personalization challenges of beauty e-commerce. RingoAI's goal is to deliver unparalleled mobile e-commerce solutions by transforming the way cameras see the world!
Meet Konrad Jarausch, CEO of RingoAI and the team behind mySkin™
“Smartphones take great photos but can’t measure skin tone and skin condition, and are unable to capture accurate images of people of color. Our Active Illuminant technology transforms ordinary smartphone cameras into powerful measurement tools that accurately and consistently capture skin tone and skin condition for all skin tones.”
What was the inspiration behind creating mySkin by RingoAI?
As experts in lighting, imaging and spectroscopy, our inspiration came in 2018 when we discovered that we could transform cameras into powerful measurement tools by pairing cameras with an Active Illuminant. We recognized early on that our Active Illuminant could dramatically enhance camera’s ability to measure and image melanin rich skin, transforming the ability of smartphones and AI algorithms to serve people of color. As a recent McKinsey analysis showed, in 2021 Black Americans spent $6.6 billion on beauty, 11% of the total US beauty market. The number and range of foundation shades has expanded dramatically in recent years, yet brands and retailers continue to struggle to recommend the right products for melanin rich skin. What’s missing is the technology to accurately measure the full range of skin tones, from the fairest to the deepest!
Smartphones take beautiful photos, but they are useless when it comes to measuring color. As any photographer knows, the color a camera captures depends upon the lighting conditions – changing the lighting changes the colors in the image. This is one reason why selfie based foundation shade recommendations are not reliable.
Skin tones captured by mySkin, the X-Rite colorimeter, and smartphone selfies
mySkin™ App delivers accurate and consistent measurements of skin tone independent of lighting conditions, matching the skin tone measurements made by the industry standard Pantone X-Rite colorimeter (a dedicated hardware device). The colors captured in a smartphone selfie vary with lighting condition and do not match actual skin tone.
What services do you provide beauty brands?
We provide brands and retailers with science-based solutions for e-commerce and product development. Our mySkin™ app is an e-commerce solution which provides consumers with accurate foundation shade recommendations, and brands and retailers with high-value data on their consumers’ skin tone. Our product recommendation engines are driven by accurate data on skin tone, and our proprietary models that simulate how products blend onto skin to create color. We offer a range of e-commerce solutions, from custom built SDKs to standalone apps, and provide product recommendations as well as full back-end support. We work closely with our partners to optimize the consumer experience, manage data acquisition and provide tailored product recommendations.
RingoAI measures the optical properties of foundations to identify the best match!
We offer services to enhance the development and testing of beauty products. Our mySkin App captures skin tone data and generates a score for how well foundation shades match a user’s skin. We measure the optical properties of products to benchmark formulations, and our proprietary models predict how products blend onto skin to create color. We simulate the reflectivity and color of human skin which has the potential to reduce the need for human testing. We work with our partners to dramatically increase the speed of formulation development and testing.
What is the ‘active illuminant’, and how does this technology help serve people of color?
Our Active Illuminant overcomes the limitations of conventional cameras by eliminating the influence of lighting conditions and capturing accurate and consistent color data. The consumer experience is much like taking a selfie, except our mySkin Active Illuminant technology takes a series of images while illuminating the face with a range of colors from the smartphone screen. From this series of images, our algorithms calculate how skin reflects light which enables us to accurately measure skin tone.
See RingoAI's Active Illuminant technology in action – click here for more details!
From a physics perspective, deeper skin tones reflect much less light than fair skin tones. Since cameras do not have the dynamic range of the human eye, the skin tones of people of color are often misrepresented in photographs, and the images have low signal quality. Unreliable image data means that AI algorithms - ranging from shade finders to dermatology to facial recognition - fail to serve people of color. In simple terms, we change the way cameras ‘see’ skin - our technology breakthrough enables cameras to accurately capture all skin tones. The mySkin App enables people of every color to obtain product recommendations tailored to their skin. Our Active Illuminant technology can also be used to improve photography and provide consistent, accurate, low-noise image data for AI algorithms.
Who is your ideal client for mySkin, what type of products are best suited?
Our products and services are ideally suited for brands and retailers who seek tools to help provide better, more inclusive, and more personalized consumer experiences. E-commerce is the fastest growing segment in beauty, but brands & retailers are still struggling to replicate the in-store experience. mySkin is a foundation shade finder that provides accurate shade recommendations for all skin tones, and we will soon be expanding into other color categories. We are now developing tools for analyzing skin condition which will form the basis of our next generation of skin care e-commerce solutions.
How does mySkin improve KPI for clients?
By improving online product search, delivering personalized product recommendations, and capturing high-value data we transform the e-commerce experience to boost conversion rates, customer loyalty, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce product returns. Our services dramatically increase the speed and reduce the cost of product development and testing.
What is RingoAI currently focusing on in terms of technology innovation, growth and strategy?
We transform smartphones and cameras into powerful yet simple-to-use measurement devices that deliver accurate skin tone measurements and foundation shade recommendations. Our Active Illuminant technology also allows us to measure and image biomarkers of skin condition and overall wellness. This capability forms the basis of the skincare solutions we are developing now. Our ability to capture accurate and consistent images and data day-to-day and week-to-week allows us to track and quantify changes in skin tone and condition over time, and tailor product and treatment regimens accordingly. We are starting with color cosmetics and will be working with partners to develop applications in skincare, dermatology, wellness and healthcare.
If you could work with any beauty brand or retailer, who would it be and why?
We are inspired by brands and retailers who seek to build community and consumer loyalty across a diverse audience by offering products and services for the full range of skin tones and skin types. Our goal is to work with partners to deliver better data, better AI, and better outcomes!
Learn more about mySkin™ at www.ringoAI.com
