Beauty Tech Deal: molecular-level skin assessment technology for smartphones
trinamiX GmbH specializes in infrared sensing solutions, while Scottsdale, Arizona – based VIAVI has expertise in network assurance and light management. Together, the tech companies will be developing the tools to put high-speed skin assessment capabilities into smartphones.
Smartphones are about to get a whole lot smarter about what they ‘see’
“We are very excited about VIAVI joining us as a strong partner, whose state-of-the-art optical solutions have been constantly pushing the envelope on what is technically possible within mobile handsets and other consumer electronics,” says Dr. Wilfried Hermes, Director of IR Sensing at trinamiX, in this week’s media release about the international tech partnership.
“This,” he says, “is an important milestone towards creating a first-class ecosystem around an exciting technology that will enhance our smartphone experience in the near future.”
The team at VIAVI is equally excited about the combined potential of trinamiX’s infrared sensing products and their own light management solution. Markus Bilger, Senior Director Product Line Management at VIAVI, tells the press, “trinamiX has broken new ground by introducing plans to bring spectroscopy to everyone. We are incredibly proud to be working with trinamiX on the next game-changing innovation that will redefine our understanding of a smartphone.”
trinamiX and VIAVI collaborate on molecular-level skin assessment technology
The two companies together are dedicated to developing near-infrared spectroscopy capabilities that can be integrated into next-gen smartphone models.
And “as part of this new functionality, future smartphones will enable consumers to quickly and easily scan their skin on a molecular level to receive near-instantaneous suggestions on optimal skincare products for use on that day,” explains the media release.
trinamiX previewed the new functionality at the 2020 Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit, an event that showcases not only the latest tech from Qualcomm’s system-on-chip capabilities for mobile but also features other technologies coming to mobile devices in the year(s) ahead.
The technology in question scans and assesses the molecular composition of any material. In the case of beauty tech, that material is human skin. A video shown at last year’s Qualcomm summit suggests the skin assessment tool will be used to measure both skin moisture and skin lipid levels and recommend product accordingly; the video also suggests that this will be the first of many applications of consumer-held NIR spectroscopy.
