P&G Grooming (Gillette/Braun): Augmented reality facial hair styling challenge

P&G, international manufacturer of Gillette and Braun brands, is looking for a partner to provide a realistic solution to help men (1) make an informed choice as to which facial hair style is right for them and then (2) help them achieve the desired style at home by giving easy to follow, real time guidance on the best hair removal steps and techniques to achieve the chosen style.

It is expected that this will be in the form of an augmented reality solution that will realistically overlay facial hair styles onto an individual’s selfie or live video stream and will coach them, in real time, how to achieve an accurate shave for their chosen style.

P&G is looking for a partner to provide a realistic solution or combination of solutions which can:

• Let people see themselves with different styles of facial hair for example; realistically adding or removing facial hair from selfies or videos.
• Once the preferred style of facial hair has been selected, give easy to follow, real time guidance as to which areas to shave to achieve the style and get sharp precise, symmetrical edges to the style, for example, around a goatee or for sideburns. The solution should be able to factor in the users existing level of hair growth and style.
• Ideally the solution will be flexible enough to be able to go beyond the shape of style being created and to provide coaching on the shaving technique recommended to create the style, for example direction of shave strokes on specific areas of the face.

Who should apply?

Startups and scaleups with expertise in augmented reality who have a potential solution with a clear route to market. Organisations must have the ability to build a minimum viable product (MVP) by September 2019. As part of MVP/PoC, organisations must be able to develop or demonstrate relevant API that would facilitate integration with the existing P&G ecosystem or ability to scale in partnership with P&G teams.

Applicants should be available to attend the pitch day on 17 May at PROTO, Gateshead. Applications must be recieved in full by the application close date on 12 April.

Why you should apply

P&G has budget to work with a startup or scaleup to build and test a proof of concept (PoC) solution with customers. If testing is successful, and the functionality within the solution is clearly shown to add value for P&G’s customers, P&G may commission the project at full scale with a live rollout on one of its grooming brands, in one or more of its global markets.

• P&G have budget to work with a start-up or scaleup to build and test a proof of concept (PoC) solution with customers. If testing is successful, and the functionality within the solution is clearly shown to add value for P&G’s customers, P&G may commission the project at full scale with a live rollout on one of its grooming brands, in one or more of its global markets.

• P&G would like to find a partner that can deliver a suitable solution for this challenge. This is a fully funded commercial opportunity and does not require matched funding; it is P&G’s intent to work with this partner beyond PoC, should a suitable solution be provided.

• Intellectual property terms will be discussed and agreed once lead solutions of interest/potential partners have been identified.

Intellectual property terms will be discussed and agreed once lead solutions of interest/potential partners have been identified with the aim of ensuring both parties have a clear understanding of terms and that this is formalised as needed before work progresses. If the solution pitched uses the start-up’s own prefilled IP then this should be made clear on the pitch day.

Additional info

The solution will be required to meet all GDPR regulations and host the data in the UK. P&G’s GDPR assessment process may need to be completed, once lead solutions of interest/potential partners have been identified.

The pilot will result in a closed trial of the proof of concept solution to measure accuracy and effectiveness but the successful organisation should be prepared for the solution to be scaled up and go live at a later stage. The P&G team’s expectation is that the closed trial of the proof of concept solution will be led and executed by its team with the close partnership/participation of the partner.

Interested parties that require additional information on evaluation criteria, KPIs and potential challenges should contact the Digital Catapult team.