L’Oréal, a major player in the beauty industry, opened a brand-new creative centre in Paris with a tool driven by AI for tracking and maybe inventing trends.
Le Visionnaire, a new creative hub in the French capital that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and cutting-edge technology to help shape the L’Oréal of the future, was officially opened during Paris Fashion Week by French cosmetics giant L’Oréal.
A five-story mirror structure that resembles an upside-down test tube is tucked between two nearby 18th-century structures. An gigantic ovoid structure in its core holds the Visionary Wall, a digital forecasting tool driven by AI.
The vast array of touchscreens at L’Oréal, according to Cristina Parma, project manager, “is a way to monitor trends and a source of inspiration.” She noted that the material is dynamic and includes new and pertinent information, unlike the “cold data” of an archive.
There, she added, “employees may gather materials that serve as the foundation for brainstorming and inspiration for strategic thinking about new goods and retail experiences.
According to Parma, the AI employs theme-based waves that let users make a sort of mood board. “We chose a number of themes that people can fix or change because we know that beauty is connected with fashion, food, design, and travel,” she added.
She went on to state that when a topic has been selected, the AI suggests a combination of sources “on a semantic and chromatic basis,” or meaning and color.
According to Parma, L’Oréal must always be “in a sort of active listening posture to be able to observe behaviors, needs, and dreams of our clients.” As a result, the instrument has been designed as a cultural barometer.
An American business called Local Projects, which specializes in interactive museums, created the software for L’Oréal. The concept was inspired by a 40-foot touchscreen the company created for Ohio’s Cleveland Museum, where guests may create a custom tour based on themes or colors.
A large multimedia archive with individual stations equipped with displays is also included in Le Visionnaire, along with a brand area containing the company’s most well-known goods. There, marketing videos are shown on touch-activated walls while projections are made into the vaulted ceiling.
These areas make use of Bluetooth technology, which, when a smartphone is docked, transmits selected material immediately to an employee’s email account. The electronic pass they swipe to enter the building is connected to the system.
The system that Local Projects developed for the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York served as its inspiration. Visitors receive connected pens there that are linked to their ticket numbers, allowing them to pick and save material for later download in place of the more conventional audio tour.
Parma described the idea by saying, “We didn’t want a passive visitor.” We wished for them to select what they were most interested in.
Le Visionnaire’s sound design was created to improve mental capacity by the Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics and Music (IRCAM) in Paris. Three distinct tracks were made, each one intended to serve a particular purpose, such as keeping the mind active in the archive, conjuring images of items in use in the branding room, or igniting the imagination during brainstorming meetings with the Visionary Wall.
Coincidentally, the acoustic chamber in IRCAM’s offices served as the location for the fashion line Coperni’s show, which debuted the Humane AI Pin on its Paris Fashion Week runway.
Le Visionnaire takes a lot of its cues from the legendary former L’Oréal Group CEO, François Dalle, who oversaw the organization for thirty years. He was a thought leader of his era, and his 2001 book, “L’aventure L’Oréal,” which was published, established his beliefs on effective business practice.
His mantra, “Seize what is starting,” is at the heart of both the L’Oréal Group’s mentality and, in particular, the Le Visionnaire idea. Dalle would have probably approved of the cutting-edge technology there.
