Sephora boosts augmented reality shopping with real-time facial recognition - Luxury Daily - Mobile

LVMH-owned Sephora is bringing live 3D facial recognition to the existing Virtual Artist feature on its application and Web site, a move expected to boost conversion rates through more accurate facial tracking and rendering. The augmented reality feature currently allows users to upload a still selfie to virtually try on various products that can be purchased from Sephora, but the new update will allow users to view themselves moving in real time with the digital makeup, with more effective technology. The update comes from the developer ModiFace after a survey of non-Modiface and non-Sephora apps showed that a 22 percent drop in conversion rates occurred when the virtual products did not line up or appear correctly on the user's face. "We believe the ability to see yourself with products can impact sales online," said Parham Aarabi, CEO of ModiFace. "We now have significant data and test cases to back this up.