My Skin Track UV: tiny device tracks UV exposure and reminds you when to apply suncream

L'Oreal has created the world's first battery-free sensor 
Clip the wearable onto a bag or shirt where it will record your UV exposure throughout the day
L'Oreal
Amelia Heathman11 June 2019

We all know we should wear suncream the majority of the time and that a higher SPF is preferable. But how many of us actually incorporate an SPF into our routine?

La Roche-Posay’s new beauty tech wearable wants you to change these habits once and for all. Its new device, named My Skin Track UV, is a wearable sensor that measures your exposure to UV, pollution, pollen and humidity and records it all in a companion app on your smartphone.

Developed by La Roche-Posay and L’Oreal’s in-house beauty tech incubator, the My Skin Track UV is about helping people understand their skin and how best to take care of it.

“We've been fascinated by wearables, because it's a space where we think there are a lot of things that if people could measure about their skin, that it could help them to have a more effective relationship with their product,” Guive Balooch, VP and head of the L’Oreal tech incubator, tells the Standard.

“We started with UV because since 1950 UV filters have been on the market every year and melanoma is still increasing, people aren’t using suncream enough or don’t know how much sun exposure they’re getting."

This tiny device clips onto your t-shirt or bag and measures your skin’s exposure during the day. To check the data, simply bring the wearable close to your phone where it connects via the NFC antenna, the part in a smartphone that allows mobile payments, and uploads all the information to the app.

The app will then tell you how much UV exposure you have had that day, what the air quality is, as well as the temperature and pollen count. The skin advice section can recommend different products to buy, whilst the activities tab will remind you when to apply suncream when you’re carrying out different activities, such as swimming, running or kayaking.

The companion app stores data recorded by the wearable and offers advice on products to buy (L'Oreal)
L'Oreal

The device, which launched in the US last year, is coming to the UK today and will be available in the Apple Store and online.

Balooch leads a team of 40 people across offices including San Francisco, Paris and New York. To develop the My Skin Track UV, the team worked with Professor John Rogers at Northwestern University, a world leader in electronics, who was able to develop the sensor in the tiny device without the need for batteries.

“It’s the world’s first battery-free sensor, it works only with an antenna,” explains Balooch.

Balooch also worked with Professor Rogers on My Skin Track pH, another tiny beauty wearable that can track the pH of your skin, which the company unveiled at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

My Skin Track UV and My Skin Track pH feed into Balooch’s focus on how tech can offer extreme personalisation in beauty.

“Beauty is about individual emotion, everyone has their own individualistic view of beauty and how they want to look and how they want the world to see them. And it’s an incredible place for technology because tech should be used to get everybody a more personal relationship with their services and products,” he says.

My Skin Track UV, Apple.com, £60

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