Touchless testing: Shiseido tackles tactile tech for online cosmetics shopping

An incoming technology may enable consumers to experience tactile sensations of cosmetics remotely to enhance online shopper experiences.

Shiseido and telecommunications company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) have started joint research to allow users to test cosmetics using visual and auditory stimuli.

Shiseido’s Kansei science and NTT’s touchless IT will be used to create a virtual experience where cosmetics can be “felt” without physical touch.

Online consumers rely on videos, images and product descriptions of cosmetics that the companies deem insufficient.

Sensory innovation in focus

Kansei science explores how aesthetics, sensory psychology and design influence consumer’s emotions and preferences. Shiseido aims to use this research to replicate the tactile sensation of its cosmetic formulations, hoping consumers can better evaluate the quality of products online without needing physical testers.

NTT’s touchless technology is reported to convey sensations such as softness and texture without direct contact by integrating haptic illusions into visual and auditory cues.

The project also draws attention to the beauty industry’s growing trend of digital transformation as businesses search for new ways to replicate in-store experiences in virtual settings.

Tech technology may open up opportunities for consumers, who can remotely evaluate and select cosmetics, regardless of location or time zone.

The new technology could allow consumers to feel the texture of cosmetics remotely, without needing physical samples.

Future opportunities

According to Shiseido, the research is part of a broader effort to push the boundaries of remote interaction with products. 

Though cosmetics are the primary focus at the moment, other personal care categories could eventually benefit from the technology’s expansion, providing a more thorough sensory shopping experience for a wider variety of products.

The companies see this development as meeting the diverse needs of global consumers, which are growing.

Yosuke Tojo, executive officer and CTO says: “Shiseido’s vision for 2030 is to become a personal beauty wellness company that will expand the range of skin beauty and realize personal health beauty throughout life. To this end, we are striving to create value that exceeds expectations by considering the changing and diversifying needs of consumers and social trends.”

“We believe that this joint research will lead to the creation of new beauty experiences through sensory communication. Also, we hope that this will be a new experience that eases the feeling of isolation and meets the need for fulfillment that consumers have while society has become more digitized and convenient. Going forward, we will continue to accelerate the creation of innovative experiences through Kansei science research, which is our strength.”

Shingo Kinoshita, SVP and head of R&D Planning, adds: “In 2023, NTT established its new medium-term management strategy, ‘new value creation and sustainability 2027, powered by Iown’ and will strive to improve people’s well-being through the creation of new value through technology.”

“This requires a deep understanding of people’s sensibilities and emotions in addition to conventional data-centered information processing. Shiseido possesses outstanding knowledge and technology related to people’s sensibilities and emotions.”

In other developments, researchers developed HapSense, a new wearable sensor that dramatically speeds up and enhances skin care product testing. It provides objective, real-time data on how products interact with skin, thereby providing a more dependable substitute for conventional subjective human panel methods, which leaves room for “guesswork.”