This week, several Canadian startups have made announcements, launching new features, partnerships, and more. Here’s the latest on Canada’s movers and shakers.
ModiFace partners with Estée Lauder to launch live makeup trial platform
Toronto-based ModiFace, which creates augmented reality technology for the beauty and medical industries, has teamed up with Estée Lauder to launch a live makeup trial platform.
Utilizing ModiFace’s Light Field Rendering technology, customers can visit Estée Lauder’s website on their desktop or mobile device to virtually sample the company’s makeup products directly through photos or live videos.
Estée Lauder said its ecommerce augmented reality integration comes with several features, including the ability to create unique virtual surfaces to model the textures and finishes of different Estée Lauder shades. The tool also uses ModiFace’s facial tracking technology to accurately map the contours of the eyes and lips in live video through any webcam.
“Our latest web AR technology combines the latest advances in AI, facial tracking, and computer graphics to result in a realistic, widely usable, and practical application that has been highly optimized for improving the online beauty shopping experience,” said Parham Aarabi, founder and CEO of ModiFace. “We are extremely excited to bring this unique technology to market with Estée Lauder. But what is most exciting is that this is just the start. We look forward to an incredibly eventful few years ahead as we work on several extremely unique AR applications with our partners at Estée Lauder.”
In April, ModiFace announced plans to support the Toronto ecosystem with a $4 million investment towards several initiatives supporting AI and AR research. The company has also made a number of developments in the beauty industry, including the release of a makeup brand-matching chatbot on Facebook Messenger in 2016.
HiMama almost hits 100 million shares on its communication platform for parents and caregivers
Toronto-based HiMama, a communication platform that allows caregivers to record and share children’s activities to parents, announced it is quickly approaching 100 million moments shared through its platform.
HiMama, which has expanded its team to 30 people since last year, said that while it has not received any VC funding and has bootstrapped its way to growth, the company currently sits at 99,650,124 shared moments.
In December 2016, HiMama was named the winner of BNN’s The Disruptors pitch contest.
LANDR launches workflow tools to help creators finish music faster
Montreal-based LANDR, which offers an automated audio mastering platform, announced the launch of a new suite of workflow tools for musicians.
LANDR said the new tools, which include Projets, an annotated player and feedback collection, and a “revamped user interface,” are meant to help musicians become more organized and productive.
With the tools, LANDR users will be able to create custom products such as consolidating demos or using a project space to workshop an album. LANDR’s upgraded interface will also allow users to share and comment on projects and specific timeframes on a track directly within the LANDR platform.
“The new LANDR workflow features let me work faster and safer,”said DJ and producer at Misstress Barbara. “Keeping everything within the LANDR platform helps avoiding any leaking, and it speeds up the work process instead of having to upload tracks to SoundCloud or Dropbox and then waiting for feedback. Being able upload everything to LANDR and separate it into folders makes it easier for organization, storage and to access the material wherever you are.”
In February, LANDR partnered with Native Instruments to offer instant mastering for the Stems format to DJs. In March, the company announced the release of Lydian, a mastering engine that gives users accessto tools suchas 3D stereo imaging, precise processing of mixes, and updated signal path clarity.