How is that $300 boutique serum different from the $15 bottle on the drugstore shelf? Currently, the skincare sector is flooded with noisy claims, yet despite overwhelming buzzwords and overpriced products, it occupies a $22.9 billion dollar market annually in the U.S. alone. For the end user, skincare is deeply personal. How we choose to look and feel is influenced by genetics, preferences, environmental factors, and lifestyle habits. The skin also has needs that evolve over time, making it even harder to understand and find what truly works. As a result, most skincare decisions today are made on subjective opinions and trial-and-error, rather than measurable data. Our hardware will transform this process by quantifying dermis hydration and barrier strength through the skin’s electrical properties. As skin impedance varies based on water content, by treating the skin as an electronic system, our device is capable of providing objective, data-driven insights similar to a health-monitoring wearable. This project will enable users to track and analyze their skin's health using a measurable baseline and identify actions to improve outcomes over time. Based on the data output from our hardware, which is covered under a provisional patent, students will develop a data processing pipeline with the rare opportunity to contribute as inventors on our utility patent.

Semester/Phase 1 (Foundational Work) Primary priority: build a data storage and retrieval infrastructure 1. Raw Data Collection: set up a pipeline for hardware inputs (I(t), V(t), humidity, and temperature) via Bluetooth in real time, and handle limitations in frequency and bits to ensure reliable transfer 2. Backend Storage Development: design a scalable database structure to store collected raw data, time-stamped for each input type. Develop APIs for data storage and retrieval for iOS mobile. 3. Data Processing Pipeline: build a pipeline to preprocess and clean incoming data to prepare for analysis, implementing basic visualization of raw data in time series graphs. Semester/Phase 2 (Feature Expansion) Primary priority: enhance functionality and usability 1. Impedance Derivation: develop algorithms to calculate equivalent circuit resistance and capacitance of the skin based on V(t) output and I(t) input 2. Dermis Water Content Estimation: relate derived impedance and capacitance values to dermis water content percentage, calibrated with humidity and temperature data 3. Long-Term Data Visualization: build visualizations to display changes in dermis water content, including trend analysis and insights for the user to identify anomalies over days, weeks, or months