Snapchat, NYX Conjures AR/AI Beauty Looks With a Hand Wave – WWD

In what may be the closest thing to casting glamour spells that tech can muster, Snap Inc. and NYX Professional Makeup are bringing a new Snapchat experience that recommends personalized beauty looks and lets people wave through the virtual try-ons by waving their hand in the air. The tech company plans to reveal the new “NYX Beauty Bestie” at its latest beauty summit on Thursday. Less a matter of magic than technical wizardry, Snap’s co-development with NYX plumbed the overlap between three bustling avenues of technology — artificial intelligence, AR and human-to-computer input — all of which are areas the partners have explored in different ways before, but aim to bring together in Beauty Bestie. AI operates behind the scenes, driven by trends and details such as occasion, time of day, local weather, mood, personal color palette and, with usage over time, personal taste and preference information. Using this data, the system will select from a range of cosmetic looks created by NYX’s human makeup artists. The app showcases each look on the user’s selfie view using AR, Snap’s specialty, and then recognizes the person’s mid-air hand gesture to roll through each option. The experience is shoppable, so once the
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