ST Chips In To Cosmetics RandD
TouchChip was developed for biometric fingerprint recognition. The device is a capacitive sensor that uses active capacitive pixel sensing. When used in conjunction with specially developed image capture software, the sensor will generate a “capacitance” map that can easily be converted into a hydration or dryness map. Assessing skin dryness will allow L'Oreal to design products better suited to age-related changes of skin.
Several months were needed to adapt existing TouchChip software to work on areas of human skin that are dryer than fingertips - such as under the eyes. Additionally, L'Oreal has developed further image analysis software for the application.
The first software was developed by L'Oreal in conjunction with another research laboratory. This detects orientations of lines in the micro-relief of the forearm. This parameter correlates to skin aging. Two further software programs are currently in development by L'Oreal - one for quantifying the actual hydration of the skin and the second for measuring the “texture” of the skin.
While L'Oreal is currently using SkinChip only in cosmetics applications, the technology could be used for other dermatological analysis in the future.
