Oakley
One of the most unlikely passengers AI gadgets hype train is the toothbrush. With claims of using advanced algorithms and companion apps to help you brush your teeth better, toothbrushes have become a tech product for some brands.
So-called “AI toothbrushes” have become more popular since 2017. Many brands are now selling artificial intelligence-enabled toothbrushes for triple-digit price tags. But there is limited scientific evidence that AI algorithms help oral health, and companies are becoming more interested in using toothbrushes equipped with the technology to capture user data.
AI toothbrushes
Kolibree was the first company to announce an “artificial intelligence toothbrush.” The French company unveiled its Ara brush at CES 2017, with founder and CEO Thomas Serval saying: “Patented deep learning algorithms are embedded directly inside the toothbrush on a low-power processor. The raw data from the sensors is passed through the processor, enabling the system. learn your habits and improve accuracy the more it’s used.”
This is roughly how other artificial intelligence companies describe their products: toothbrushes. There’s an obscure algorithm that works with an anonymous (probably cheap) processor and sensors to gather information, including how hard, fast, or often you brush your teeth. Typically, a Bluetooth connection enables this data to be synced with an app, presumably allowing users to see comments on their brushing habits and how they can improve.
Kolibree is now licensing its technology to Colgate brand AI toothbrushes. An associated app, Colgate Connect, allows users to order Colgate products, sometimes at a discount. Other companies selling “AI toothbrushes” with connected e-commerce apps include Procter & Gamble’s (P&G’s) Oral-B, Philips and Oclean, which announced a toothbrush equipped with the new technology in July. Unlike many other toothbrushes, Oclean’s X Ultra can work with Wi-Fi.
An Oclean spokesperson told Ars Technica via email.
The toothbrush chip and accelerometer collect user behavior data. The built-in algorithm processes this data and the brush data is uploaded to the cloud in real time (no need to open the app after connecting to Wi-Fi). The data processed on the toothbrush is displayed in a limited size on the screen, while the cloud-processed results are displayed in the mobile app in a larger size and with AI suggestions (based on recent or long-term brushing habits).
Assuming you can find an AI toothbrush that lives up to its claims by helpfully pointing out that you tend to miss your top right tooth, there’s reason to be skeptical of the need for such technology and the underlying motivations a brand might have. in issuing an application. – connected toothbrush.
AI toothbrushes help companies sell, develop products
Beyond toothbrushes, personal care brands are looking for new ways to make money beyond selling units. As L’Oréal beauty brand director Stéphane Berube says, the industry can only get value from selling services instead of products. “I believe that a company that just sells a product will not succeed,” he said said at the 2018 Marketing Conference.
AI toothbrushes take a similar approach. Toothbrush tips act as a service, while connected apps offer ways to potentially diversify a company’s business, generate more revenue through product sales, and gain intimate insight into how people use the product. The Oral-B toothbrush app, for example, can provide users with information about their toothbrushing habits and recommend purchasing P&G products while providing shopping links.
P&G has also discussed the use of artificial intelligence in general as a means of obtaining information that can help shape product development. As P&G CIO Vittorio Cretella explained in 2022 blog post“Algorithms can be set to process consumer feedback on product changes and flag it to R&D engineers in real-time and suggest adjustments accordingly.” how P&G’s R&D team noted, traditional consumer data collection methods such as surveys and focus groups rely on self-reporting, which can be inaccurate. Using technology to collect information about how people use their products is a way for corporations to overcome this disadvantage.
