Virtual Image Consultants [Edit]

Late this November, Japanese women will be the first to try out the new Nintendo DS game, Project Beauty, which offers them make-over advice.

The software was developed by Sega, the gaming company and Shiseido, the cosmetics giant. Users feed scanned images of their faces into the DS. The software then assigns each face based on shape and position of features to one of four categories, cool, active, cute or feminine.

The software next displays the user’s face next to a suggested make-over face. The users can select different social circumstances such as work, dating, informal in order to see the recommended makeup tips. Women who are confident of what they wish to apply can use the software to “try” on different cosmetic colours. Instructions on how to apply foundation, blusher, eyeshadow and so on are also given. The software will cost 6,090 yen or $55.

Beauty will now be in the hand of the beholder.