It was crowded on the sidewalks in Hong Kong. Early morning commuters, shoulders tightly pressed against the strangers walking next to them, moved in a sluggish blob through each crowded intersection.
Katia Vega didn't mind the congestion. If anything, it made for ideal people-watching.
She'd done a lot of it since moving to the city two months ago. She noticed many of the women on the streets donned artificial eyelashes and flashy fingernails. It wasn't anything over-the-top, just basic accessories with a trendy kick.
That day, Vega suddenly formed an idea: Could she merge micro-technology into fashion?
Just a few months later, she coined a new career for herself: "beauty technology." She planned to build wearable computers into basic accessories, like fingernails, eyelashes and makeup. The projects are still largely in their prototype phases. But, Vega says, she's hoping to build a support group of sponsors and soon bring the devices to the mainstream marketThe principle is similar to most wearable tech, only here, the actual tech is disguised. While wearing the accessories, people can accomplish everyday actions like opening doors or flipping through TV channels by blinking their eyes or snapping their fingers.
"Beauty technician" isn't a frequently used title, mainly because it's made up.
Vega, 30, is a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at Pontifical Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She officially incorporated beauty technology into her thesis when she returned from her Hong Kong exchange program last year. The term seemed like the most fitting way to describe her focus on fashion and tech. Plus, she figured, it sounded catchy.
"My main area of study has been wearable computing," she tells Mashable. "For a long time I'd been thinking about how that technology could disappear into everyday objects. And seeing all these glamorous accessories in Hong Kong made me realize exactly how I would do it."
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She's focusing on two main branches of the project, so far: fingernails and conductive makeup.
The fingernails are rigged with individual radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. They can be applied the same way as any other artificial nail. The tags, pictured left, are hidden beneath polish, glitter and plastic decorations — whatever the wearer prefers. They're all extremely customizable, Vega says.
The RFID readers recognize tags within two centimeters, and can be synced to a variety of tasks you'd normally perform with a card. If, for example, the door to your office building is activated via card scanner, you can program one of the RFID nails to open the door instead. The program recognizes actions, too, so if you'd prefer to add a little flare — say, a finger snap — you can.
The makeup works in a similar way, using conductive material in the form of eyeliner and fake eyelashes, turning basic eye and facial movements into programmable actions — like Google Glass, without the Glass. The lashes are chemically metallized to mimic a natural, black color.
"This works, again, as a substitute to wearing an electronic device on your face," Vega says. "The eyelashes and eyeliners work as switches. When the user blinks, a microcontroller can activate things like lights, TV channels and even drones."
Image: Katia Vega
Vega's recently taken the experiments a step further. Last month, she presented the "AquaDJing" project at the Women 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas, alongside DJ Congo Sanchez from the band Thievery Corporation.
For the project, Sanchez used Vega's tech nails to perform and mix more than 25 tracks through a layer of water. The RFID readers recognize tags through different materials, such as water, glass and wood. A "DJ Controller" pad at the bottom of a water container was able to pick up on Sanchez's hand movements. The effect, then, is one of controlling and mixing sound effects by "touching" the water up top.
Overall, the project is just getting started. Vega plans to continue experimenting with different uses of the nails and makeup — and finish her Ph.D., at the same time. She'd eventually like to turn the idea into a company and make her products available for sale. For now, though, she's tweaking the existing products and actively looking for sponsorships. One step — err, blink — at a time.
