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DCU Spin-out, Style-Eyes, wins Enterprise Ireland’s ‘One to Watch’ Award

DCU Spin-out wins Enterprise Ireland’s ‘One to Watch’ Award

DCU spin-out company, Style-Eyes, has won the Enterprise Ireland ‘One to Watch’ Award 2013 for developing first-of-its-kind technology – a smartphone, tablet and computer application which uses image recognition technology to make fashion more accessible.  Seán Sherlock TD, Minister for Research & Innovation, presented the award at Enterprise Ireland’s Open Day for Researchers in Dublin today.

Style-Eyes, developed by researchers Dr Mark Hughes and Bobby Pringle at CLARITY:  Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, allows the user to take a picture of a fashion item, whether it’s an evening dress or a handbag and searches through a global retailer database to find an exact match. In a matter of seconds results appear on your screen showing the user the product they have photographed as well as a selection of other options that are visually relevant.

The powerful technology enables the fashion we see on the street, in a magazine or newspaper, on a website or even on Facebook or Twitter to effectively become a QR code linking the user to the retailer’s site for the product.  Fashionistas will get the first look at Style Eyes when it’s released at Dublin Fashion Week (5-8 September) in conjunction with Samsung. 

Congratulating Dr Hughes and Mr Pringle, Minister Sherlock said, “Through the Action Plan for Jobs we have put into effect a range of changes aimed at turning good ideas into good jobs. The quality of our R&D is already a major part of the reason for the success of our multinational and indigenous companies but we must do more. As Minister with responsibility for Research and Innovation policies I am determined that we continue to place science, technology and innovation at the heart of enterprise and jobs policies and that Government investment of tax payers’ money in the area of research is utilised to the benefit of all our citizens”.

DCU’s technology transfer team at Invent DCU facilitated the identification and protection of the intellectual property arising from Style-Eyes research. DCU President Brian McCraith said, “I would like to congratulate Dr Mark Hughes and Bobby Pringle on winning the prestigious Enterprise Ireland 2013 One-to-Watch Award.  As Ireland's University of Enterprise, DCU places a strong emphasis on innovation and, in particular, on the translation of our research into economic and societal benefit.  Style-Eyes is an excellent example of a DCU spin-out company translating an innovative idea arising from research in our labs into a commercial entity which has the potential to create many skilled jobs." 

Darren Kennedy, presenter of ITV’s This Morning ‘Style Squad’ said “I am really looking forward to Style-Eyes being rolled out.  Today with fashion, be it on the street, in a magazine, wherever, you just want to know where it’s from.  If I have a device that will allow me to quite simply take a picture of a garment and then it will automatically not only tell me where it’s from, how much it costs, but as well give me alternative options, then that’s going to make me buy.”

Gearoid Mooney, Director of ICT commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland said, “Enterprise Ireland is delighted to work with Mark and Bobby to bring their invention to the market.  They have used the funding provided by Enterprise Ireland to demonstrate their technology, establish themselves in the fashion industry and partner with UK and Irish retailers to trial Style-Eyes’ image recognition engine with their customers.  Enterprise Ireland is continuing to work with Mark and Bobby to stabilise and scale the technology for a global market.”