ech-savvy but fashion-conscious Japanese women who want to try an instant makeover discreetly now have a chance to do it at the touch of a button. In a project meant to help design “the department store of the future,” Japan’s top cosmetics maker Shiseido Co yesterday launched with partners a virtual make-up simulator on a trial basis. The customer’s face appears on the computer and moves in real-time as she tries on lipstick, eyeshadow or blush at the top of the screen. “This is the first time to be able to do this with moving images instead of still images,” Shiseido spokesman Shigesato Kobayashi said. The customer touches on-screen tags that offer information about the products, including what ingredients are included or what skin type they are suited to. The screen will also show the before and after results of the makeover, “so women can apply and reapply different kinds of color without having to use make-up remover and compare the results instantly,” Kobayashi said. The technology, developed by high-tech giant Fujitsu Ltd and supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), will be offered on a trial basis until the middle of next month at Mitsukoshi department stores in Tokyo’s ritzy Ginza area and the central city of Nagoya. The technology also assists companies by showing them the popularity of products. But Shiseido acknowledged that technology would never replace human counseling. “This is simply an addition to make-up counseling,” Kobayashi said. “Of course, we need real cosmeticians to tell which color works best with a person’s skin color and how to put on make-up correctly.”
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