HP in the Make-up Aisle

Yes, that is right.  You could find Hewlett-Packard acting as a beauty consultant on a mobile phone near you in the make-up aisle.  Because it is not always easy to match the bottles of foundation with the color of your cheek under a store's lighting conditions, HP is stepping up to bat to remedy the problem.  HP is at work in an effort to give the mobile phone the technology it needs to be used as a make-up tool that will tell the client which tones and colors match their skin tone, no matter what the season or the store.  This means, with the help of HP, you will be able to buy a customized shade of foundation and other favorite cosmetics.

Corrected Tones for a Color Match

All that a person will have to do is take their picture with a mobile phone as they hold a special color chart near their face.  The photograph is sent to an automated system that picks out the person's face from the image.  Corrections to the skin tone are made by removing lighting and camera caused effects from the image that can be gauged by the color chart held near the person's face.  Color pixels are taken out of the client's image, compared and matched to database images of real people's skin. 

Beauty Consultation in a Text Message

Recommendations on color choices that would complement the user's skin tone would be made by the automated system and the client would receive a text message with recommended color choices for use as make-up.  This would all happen quickly and the scenario could be ideal for people who do not like to use the services of beauty counter salespersons or products or want the convenience of the tool. 

Color Coordination Technology could Work for other Retailers

HP is using color and image coordination technology that the company thinks could create greater convenience and smarter purchases of make-up products just as it could for many other retailers.  Persons wishing to buy products that require color coordination with a person or setting could use the image for a variety of purchase types. 

The Jetsons arrive at Carpet World

Imagine if you were able to shop for household interior paint and could find a matching color that will coordinate with your drapes or vice versa using images and your mobile phone.  It could be that you want to match shoes to a belt.  Household furnishings, building supplies, clothing and jewellery are examples of a few types of retailers who could benefit from using color coordination technology.  The possibilities are endless for use of this technology for improving a shopper's happiness with their purchases.  

Could your Business use Mobile Color Match Technology?

HP would like to encourage retailers and industries to consider ways in which they could work with HP in an effort to reach the customer or client in new ways through imaging and mobility technology.  Fields such as healthcare could use the imaging and mobility technology to reach and assist people requiring their services.