SAN FRANCISCO —  Madison Reed, a prestige hair color brand, announced  that visitors to its website Madison-Reed.com – via phone, tablet or desktop – can virtually try-on more than 40 Madison Reed hair colors by using their device’s live camera or uploading a selfie. A split screen will appear to immediately highlight the difference between the current hair color and the new, virtual shade. In a fun twist, the split screen has a built-in slider that allows the user to toggle between two colors in real time.

Women will be able to instantly envision a major color change, or a subtle shift in shade or tone, as if color had been freshly applied by a Madison Reed Professional. This impressive, lifelike simulation is made possible by technology vastly superior to other augmented reality (AR) tools, which tend to create an odd shimmer of color around the face resembling a halo.

The technology results from a collaboration with Perfect Corp., the parent company of beauty app YouCam Makeup which is renowned for its award-winning AR and artificial intelligence (AI). Teams from Madison Reed and YouCam Makeup worked closely to integrate a palette of hair colors into a live, virtual, try-on tool that is powered by proprietary AR, AI and color-matching technologies. This joint effort marks the first time YouCam Makeup has taken its in-app, hair color tech and embedded it into a direct-to-consumer website.

“Madison Reed believes in empowering our customers in every way imaginable,” said Amy Errett, chief executive officer and founder of Madison Reed. “Our goal is to eliminate any fear factor and enable people to choose a new hair color with the confidence of having already witnessed the end result. Women have been begging for this try-on technology, but current solutions just don’t hit the mark. Now, an accurate, realistic solution finally exists on Madison-Reed.com.”

“Our continued deep-learning technology has helped capture the unique movement and dimension of individual hair strands in order to display the most true-to-life, virtual hair color try-on imaginable,” said Alice Chang, CEO of Perfect Corp. “Madison Reed is the first to integrate this unique, live hair color feature into its website shopping experience, and we are proud to have made that possible.”

Madison Reed is a brand known for its tech innovations, including the first-ever chatbot to analyze a selfie and suggest the perfect hair color match. The chatbot’s introduction followed Madison Reed’s award-winning smartphone app that has voice-recognition and voice-controls, enabling women to follow step-by-step application instructions without having to touch – or smudge or stain – their cell phones.

To experience the new Try On tool, go to Madison-Reed.com, click “Try Your Perfect Shade,” and start by taking the quiz.