Alibaba Group Holding’s new gadget is an eight-inch mirror equipped with an artificial intelligence-powered smart speaker. The smart mirror, on voice command, adjusts light settings to let users see their face perfectly, whether they are sitting in a dark coffee shop or lounging on a sunny beach. The mirror also offers beauty tips, monitors UV levels and can even help order cosmetic products on its platform

Alibaba’s voice-activated mirror is the latest example of companies stepping up their efforts to bring beauty and technology together as they look to tap into growing demand from China’s tech-savvy customers. While no data is available on how big the developing “beauty tech” market is, analysts say there are clear signs that it is on the rise.

Smart mirror in the Netflix movie What happened to Monday?
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With Chinese customers seeking personalized beauty products, companies respond with the use of technology. Sales of beauty devices reached 4 billion yuan ($595 million) in China in 2017, with an estimated growth of 50% last year, according to global consumer market research company Mintel. According to an analyst in Mintel beauty brands are scrambling to make it easier for customers to try out their products. Applying cosmetics virtually, for instance, is more convenient and appealing to millennials compared to traditional ways that customers have to remove makeup after every try.

Alibaba’s goal is not to sell the smart mirror but to boost the sale of lipsticks, and other beauty products by deploying its smart-mirror to shopping malls where it will offer virtual makeovers to women waiting in line at restrooms. The company plans to introduce the Magic Mirror across the nation.

Analysts say China’s move to integrate tech with beauty is also part of a global trend. In Japan, the country’s leading beauty brand Shiseido has teamed up with Microsoft to create an AR-enabled makeup app for women working from home who do not want to bother with makeup but still want to look polished in a video conference call.

Last year, L’Oreal acquired ModiFace, a Canadian startup specializing in AR and AI technology; the first-ever takeover by the French cosmetics group of a non-beauty company.

Source NikkeiAsia
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