L’Oréal and Emotiv harness neurotech and algorithms for personalized fragrances

28 Mar 2022 --- Beauty giant L’Oréal has partnered with bio-informatics and technology company Emotiv to create a headset device for helping consumers decide their personalized fragrance.

The headset uses machine learning algorithms that interpret electroencephalography (EEG) as consumers experience scent families. This allows for accurate sensing and monitoring of preferences, stress and attention to detail, resulting in a “perfect scent” to match their mood.    

“The intersection of neurotech, AI and science is an exciting next step. The science of choosing a fragrance is very complex,” says Guive Balooch, head of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator. 

Neuroscience developments  
“This partnership promises innovation for the entire beauty industry. This is truly the first time consumers will have access to a state-of-the-art, in-store experience that uses neuroscience to provide personalized, precise fragrance advice,” continues Balooch.“EEG measures changes in the electrical activity produced by the brain,” says Emotiv.

Tan Le, CEO at Emotiv, adds that they aim to simplify the decision-making process by connecting emotion and scent through technology “in a way no one has done before.”

“Rooted in science and powerful insights, this technological breakthrough will help consumers decode what fragrances are best suited to their needs.” 

With the challenge of choosing a fragrance from thousands of options, Stephan Bezy, international general manager at Yves Saint Laurent Beaute, acknowledges the difficulty of making the right decision. 

The neurotech device by Emotive is combined with L’Oréal scents and algorithms. The device is created by L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, Yves Saint Laurent, a group of fragrance experts and Emotiv.

Moods for personalization
Using the device, the companies got the right personalized fragrance for 95% of people, shares Bezy. 

“This is enormously higher than without the technology. Once we know which scents make people feel happy, energized, or other emotions, we can customize fragrances even more – the potential is boundless.”

L’Oréal found that more than 77% of consumers want fragrances that bring emotional benefits. It also found that people tie emotions to their scent preference via a blind test. Additionally, more than half of the consumers aged between 12 and 34 choose fragrances based on their mood.EEG can measure beta, alpha, theta and delta waves.  

How does the device work?
A fragrance consultation experience connects neuron responses from a multi-sensor EEG-based headset to fragrance preferences. 

“Together with L’Oréal, we hope this partnership provides unique insights into how consumers feel about fragrances and how scents make them feel through an unbiased lens,” says Le.

“The experience will be available worldwide in Yves Saint Laurent flagship stores in multiple countries later this year and through 2023,” shares L’Oréal.

Advancing AI and tech
“We are constantly developing innovative, personalized experiences for our consumers,” says Balooch.

Earlier this year, L’Oréal also made big moves in technology and beauty – partnering with Verily for precision skin technology to better understand and characterize aging skin. 

Furthermore, advances in AI-powered technology for personalization were seen with its launch of hair dyeing technologies, Coloright and Colorsonic.  

Edited by Venya Patel 

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