By launching this app, Dr Sameh Megrhi, founder of OMИ, aims to both make it easier for non-specialists to choose a perfume and encourage those who gave up on this category to come back. Sameh Megrhi, PhD in computer vision, has worked in the field of AI for 12 years. She registered a patent for this solution out of her own resources. “Although it was created by humans, AI enhances creativity on unexpected levels,” she explains.
She is now helped by seven people, and OMИ is part of Willa, an incubator which promotes women, who are still underrepresented in the data science industry.
Turning emotions into olfactory notes
To offer a different perfume experience that meets ill-informed consumers’ needs, OMИ decided to focus on the origins of perfumery: emotions. “There is a semantic gap between what consumers express and the perfumes launched,” says Sameh Megrhi.
As a result, the application makes it possible to record your own story (with a video, an audio recording, or a text) and explain your current cravings through your emotions and olfactory memories. The algorithm turns in real time the emotions you express into olfactory notes to suggest the smell you are looking for. OMИ selects key ingredients, which you can combine to others, to better identify your tastes. Based on the results, the application makes several perfume recommendations using a database of 40,000 products.
In other words, a new language emerges, which consists in communicating your feelings to express your needs when purchasing a perfume.
From consumer to perfumer
OMИ’s second level consists in meeting the rising demand for personalization. Buying a unique product is a recurring demand from Millennials and the Generation Z. These two generations have given up on this category which, in the long run, represents 30% of the purchasing capacity on the perfume segment.
This second solution will be available on networking platform DeepNoze. The service will only be accessible with the Premium subscription.
The application will encourage customers to use this means with perfumers, so as to implement a real co-creation process for which both parties will be responsible. For this service, Sameh Meghri selected perfumers Joëlle Lerioux in Grasse, Rawya Catto in Dubai, and Shahzad Haider, in Los Angeles, California.
Currently in its beta version, OMИ is now ready to be taken to another level. A fundraising will soon be on the agenda.
