3 ms·

If this is serious, the first part sounds reasonable to do, matching face to hair styles. Actually cutting hair I don't think one can do cheap enough, even if

If this is serious, the first part sounds reasonable to do, matching face to hair styles. Actually cutting hair I don't think one can do cheap enough, even if the only hairstyle it can do is a bowl cut. The human head is not uniform, and the actual surface is obscured so you have to find where it is by physical touch, which is not easy for a robot. You might be able to build a prototype for a few million, but the production units I can't see being done for less than $50k (you could spend crazy amounts in R&D to get it lower, but I doubt one can drive it down to less than $10k). Main killer is the number of degrees of freedom the robot would need to cut the hair and the sensitivity in movement so it doesn't injure someone. If someone figured out how to do that, they could make boatloads of money applying it to other problems (eg: non-fun nursing tasks, like replacing bedpans or washing patents of which there is a endless list of complications stemming from them not getting done often enough).

thehorbach 11y ago
Agree, and the IPL itself costs a lot! Additionally, why would a barbershop buy a tool from you if they can get a barber for a few bucks an hour?
- extrapickles 11y ago
  IPL would be the wrong way to do it. I thought it worked by heating the hair until it dies, not burning/cutting it off. You would want to use regular electric barber hair clippers with a vacuum attachment for cut hair collection.
  - robbiemc2 11y ago
    Sorry for the delay. Was unable to post using my account. Unsure why. I will try to share my thoughts below: 1. IPL uses light pulsated at a very high wavelength and high spectral ranges, which destroy the hair. We are looking at a lower wavelength of light (IPL-lite), which would target only the chromophore in the hair. This will also de-risk the case of skin burns etc. 2. Heating is one way of doing it, but I'm not yet sure how effective this would be, in terms of quality, pre-heating (time and energy) etc. We want to build a solution that only uses one source of energy (potentially), in this case light. 3. Ideally, the v0.01 we are working on will have a fabric attached to the inside of the helmet which will measure your head coordinates. The mechanical components will then adjust the height of the diodes (which are evenly spaced on the inside of the helmet) and then start the IPL-lite process. 4. We are consulting a prof specializing in light emission and also have an "advisor" in a dermatologist/scientist specializing in cosmetic laser. We wanted to be in stealth mode (and will probably still be, hypothetically), but have to thank YC for this opportunity, to get feedback from smarter folks than a handful of us. Yes. This project has the potential to be patented, and possible use-cases are a bundle. Please keep your feedback flowing and how this might fail. That is the only way we will learn and not die. Thanks so much!
    - extrapickles 11y ago
      As far as I can tell, all forms of optical (laser, IPL, etc) hair removal techniques all kill the hair follicles by causing them to heat up and do not actually cut the hair. There might be a magic wavelength (or combo of them) that would cut without killing the follicle, but then you will be burning hair at that point and would need very good ventilation. There was a Kickstarter a while back that tried to make a laser shaver, but they never could demonstrate it working (they had a few very suspect videos) and it was pulled. I would be very worried about getting scammed when looking into light based hair trimming. Basically, any form of light (laser, xenon flashlamp) with a wavelength bigger than UV pretty much only damages things by heating. UV can do chemical damage in addition to heat by causing things to fall apart, though the potential for damage to the eyes is extreme as eyes due not tolerate UV. However, if something does exist and works, I would love to be proved wrong in this regard as one can then do some amazing things with the tech.
      - theforceawakens 11y ago
        Great points there! Will definitely consider these during our R&D process. Thanks so much.
theforceawakens 11y ago
Thanks so much for the feedback and thoughts. In a meeting and will respond to you in 30-45 mins. And yes, serious about the project.

thehorbach 11y ago

Agree, and the IPL itself costs a lot! Additionally, why would a barbershop buy a tool from you if they can get a barber for a few bucks an hour?

extrapickles 11y ago
IPL would be the wrong way to do it. I thought it worked by heating the hair until it dies, not burning/cutting it off. You would want to use regular electric barber hair clippers with a vacuum attachment for cut hair collection.
- robbiemc2 11y ago
  Sorry for the delay. Was unable to post using my account. Unsure why. I will try to share my thoughts below: 1. IPL uses light pulsated at a very high wavelength and high spectral ranges, which destroy the hair. We are looking at a lower wavelength of light (IPL-lite), which would target only the chromophore in the hair. This will also de-risk the case of skin burns etc. 2. Heating is one way of doing it, but I'm not yet sure how effective this would be, in terms of quality, pre-heating (time and energy) etc. We want to build a solution that only uses one source of energy (potentially), in this case light. 3. Ideally, the v0.01 we are working on will have a fabric attached to the inside of the helmet which will measure your head coordinates. The mechanical components will then adjust the height of the diodes (which are evenly spaced on the inside of the helmet) and then start the IPL-lite process. 4. We are consulting a prof specializing in light emission and also have an "advisor" in a dermatologist/scientist specializing in cosmetic laser. We wanted to be in stealth mode (and will probably still be, hypothetically), but have to thank YC for this opportunity, to get feedback from smarter folks than a handful of us. Yes. This project has the potential to be patented, and possible use-cases are a bundle. Please keep your feedback flowing and how this might fail. That is the only way we will learn and not die. Thanks so much!
  - extrapickles 11y ago
    As far as I can tell, all forms of optical (laser, IPL, etc) hair removal techniques all kill the hair follicles by causing them to heat up and do not actually cut the hair. There might be a magic wavelength (or combo of them) that would cut without killing the follicle, but then you will be burning hair at that point and would need very good ventilation. There was a Kickstarter a while back that tried to make a laser shaver, but they never could demonstrate it working (they had a few very suspect videos) and it was pulled. I would be very worried about getting scammed when looking into light based hair trimming. Basically, any form of light (laser, xenon flashlamp) with a wavelength bigger than UV pretty much only damages things by heating. UV can do chemical damage in addition to heat by causing things to fall apart, though the potential for damage to the eyes is extreme as eyes due not tolerate UV. However, if something does exist and works, I would love to be proved wrong in this regard as one can then do some amazing things with the tech.
    - theforceawakens 11y ago
      Great points there! Will definitely consider these during our R&D process. Thanks so much.

theforceawakens 11y ago

Thanks so much for the feedback and thoughts. In a meeting and will respond to you in 30-45 mins. And yes, serious about the project.