"SENSY" is an AI robot app equipped with cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) that can learn fashion sense. Colorful Board, the app's operator, recently announced that it raised 140 million yen in April through a third-party allotment of new shares, underwritten by funds managed by ACA and domestic business corporations.
The app was developed in collaboration with Keio University and Chiba University and released in 2014. Users can categorize clothing from partner brands (2,465 brands, the largest number in Japan as of April) as "likes" or "dislikes." The AI learns the user's "sensibilities," and, like a personal stylist, suggests products from e-commerce sites around the world that fit the user's tastes. AI robots for models such as IZUMI and Luna Umino, as well as stylists such as Kumiko Kobayashi and Masaaki Mitsuzono, are also available, allowing users to select products based on their "sensibilities."

In addition, Rhizomatiks' Daito Manabe, who won an award at the Cannes Lions for his stage direction for Perfume and was selected as one of Apple's "30 Pioneering Creators," was in charge of art direction and UI design.

With this funding, Colorful Board plans to embed "SENSY" into humanoid robots and various companies' e-commerce sites, based on a demonstration experiment using "SENSY" in a brand's physical store in March of this year. Furthermore, the company plans to explore the potential of "SENSY" not only in the fashion industry but also in lifestyle areas such as food, video, music, travel, and healthcare.

In addition to currently partnering with ShopPop.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, and the Italian company Yoox Group, the company plans to actively expand into overseas markets, primarily in Southeast Asia, including South Korea and Taiwan.

What was once talked about as the near future is now gradually taking shape. Attention is likely to be focused on new technologies that have the potential to change the future of shopping.