SBIR Phase I: Hair Genome Project - Computational approach to classifying hair profiles and dermatological health disparities in underserved communities

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be an inclusive platform offering individuals access to data-driven, personalized insights on hair health. Hair health plays a large factor in overall mental/physical health; however, an absence of transparent data has disproportionately disadvantaged access to quality products and care information, particularly among minority communities. This disparity has led individuals to use products and/or wear styles that adversely impact hair and scalp health. The proposed technology will bridge these gaps, providing users with hair/scalp health insights and matching them with suitable products and regimens for their hair profile and goals. At the same time, the data and user engagement with the platform can be leveraged to offer brands, healthcare providers, insurance companies, etc. with deeper insights into their customers’ hair care-related goals, pain points, and health conditions. In addition to supporting hair health, this project will mitigate the scalp and hair pathologies (e.g., alopecia, burns, breakage, contact dermatitis) stemming from ill-suited products and care practices.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a data-driven hair intelligence platform that uses big data to democratize hair insights for all. The technology and platform will leverage big data from peer-reviewed publications and science-backed databases as well as the users themselves, to continually refine personalized insights and understand customer needs in the context of their unique hair profile. Using proprietary algorithms, the technology will be able to seamlessly recognize and map different hair types, identify secondary unique factors (porosity, density, texture, etc.), map and analyze different ingredients in products, track and map different treatment regimens and product usage, and develop sentiment analysis, patterns, and predictions. This project will: 1) Develop training dataset and tiered algorithm for hair profile classification with high confidence; 2) Validate and refine the hair profile classification system through a comparative study with dermatology residents; and 3) Establish proof-of-concept demonstrating the connection between accurate hair profile classification and data-driven product/style recommendations to improve hair-esteem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.