Introduction
The skin is to the human body what a map is to the world. I'm not a person with disabilities - although I once wrote a paper that touched on the subject of disability and beauty whilst at university - and I came across this hackathon by Estee Lauder as a DevPost user which intrigued me as it really confronted me with questions I never considered myself before such as: "How do the visually impaired put on make-up?" It's a question that made me appreciate how I take my sight for granted and so I decided to leverage my programming skills for good use, particularly as the company I work for is very big on corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Blind Beautified is a mobile app and plugin that helps assist the blind and visually impaired with putting on makeup. The underlying technology behind it is based on the idea that human skin is like a map of the human body, and if we have apps such as Google Maps and CityMapper that help assist us in navigating around cities, why not have a map that navigates around one's body?
Blind Beautified works on the basis that each person's face is unique. This is true even of twins. Aspects of a person, such as the distance between the eyes and the nose, are unique to each person. Blind Beautified leverages on this fact and studies a user's facial characteristics. It then provides important directions to the end user such as where exactly, for example, to place concealer or foundation.
Ordinarily, as a programmer, I would build this for the Technical Track. But owing to time constraints, this has been submitted to the Ideas Track instead. It is hoped that that we will be able to work with Estee Lauder in the future after this hackathon should this submission be successful.
What it does
Blind Beautified provides those who are blind and visually impaired with instructions on how to put on makeup. It leverages face recognition as well as voice-assistant technology.
How will Blind Beautified work?
Blind Beautified is programmed in a language called C++, which is a language known for being able to handle heavy-duty tasks. It is frequently used in fields such as gaming. Whilst the two major phone operating systems - Android as well as iOS - do not use C++ per se, they do offer the ability for C++ to be integrated into apps developed for them. For example, in the context of Android, there is the Android Native Development Kit, which enables developers to integrate C++ into apps developed for its system. Similarly, iOS offers the ability to extend its operating system for more advanced operations.
C++ is needed to use a well-known library known as OpenCV. OpenCV is a reputable and widely used image recognition library that traces its origins to research by Intel and has since gone on to be a major tool in recognition as well as open software.
Differences between Blind Beautified and Estee Lauder's Voice-Enabled Makeup Assistant VMA
During this hackathon, I learned that Estee Lauder have developed an app for blind people to assist with their makeup called the VMA or Voice-Enabled Make-up Assistant . The app itself is very interesting and has attracted applause from media outlets such as The Vogue.
Challenges we ran into
Unfortunately, due to the time constraints involved, this has been submitted to the Idea track as opposed to the Technical track, which I am more suited to.
What we learned
I learned during this hackathon about the difficulties that those with disabilities have with regards to makeup. It was something that did not dawn on me too much, until I came across this hackathon. I also increased my understanding of OpenCV.
What's next for Blind Beautified
If this submission is successful, it is hoped that we can work with Estee Lauder on this, especially as we have the technical know-how to bring this to fruition.
ALL men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer seeing (one might say) to everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things. - Aristotle (Ancient Greek philosopher)
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