It all started with a haircut.

During yesterday's lunch break, one of our teammates, Andy, went to get his hair cut. While chatting with his barber, he heard an interesting frustration: training beginners means correcting the same mistakes, over and over again.

The barber explained how much time he spends demonstrating techniques and supervising students during practice. The problem? Students need constant feedback, but instructors can't always be there.

That casual conversation sparked an idea.

Instead of sitting behind our laptops making assumptions, we went out and visited two barbershops in Sydney, interviewing two professional barbers about their learning journeys, biggest challenges and experiences training beginners.

We also tested our idea with them: What if students had a visual AI coach that could guide them through practice, even when their instructor wasn't around?

Their feedback helped us identify a clear opportunity: the challenge isn't simply learning how to cut hair. It's knowing whether you're doing it right while practising.

And that's how Snip Coach was born.

Practice makes perfect. But only if you're practising the right way.

What it does

Snip Coach is an AI-powered barber training assistant designed to make hands-on practice more independent, interactive and effective.

Using an iPhone, students can scan their tools and mannequin head, choose a hairstyle and follow step-by-step cutting instructions.

During practice, Snip Coach is designed to track hand movements and cutting angles, providing real-time guidance to help students improve their technique.

For example, when a student needs to lift a section of hair to 90 degrees but is holding it at 84 degrees, Snip It can guide them towards the correct position.

After each session, students receive a performance summary highlighting their progress and areas for improvement.

It's like having an extra pair of eyes during every practice session.

How we built it

We designed an iOS-first learning experience that brings together camera-based hand tracking, 3D visualisation and AI-assisted feedback.

Our prototype follows the complete student journey:

Scan cutting tools and a mannequin head.
Create a personalised 3D head representation.
Connect an iPhone and Mac for a larger training display.
Select a haircut and learn the required techniques.
Practise with interactive angle guidance.
Review performance and identify what to improve next. We focused on making the experience intuitive for complete beginners, with clear visual instructions and minimal setup.