Unilever teams up with Be My Eyes for AI-assisted cooking

UK – Unilever has forged a collaboration with Be My Eyes, a specialist in accessibility apps, to extend the use of Accessible QR (AQR) on packaging, delivering an AI-assisted cooking experience for visually impaired or blind shoppers.

This partnership expands upon the introduction of on-pack Accessible QR by computer vision experts Zappar on Unilever’s Persil and Colman’s products in the UK last year.

Unilever’s global connected pack strategy aims to employ new digital experiences and technology to transform how shoppers engage with and utilize its products.

Initially implemented in the UK with Colman’s Singapore Noodles Meal Maker, the Be My Eyes technology is set to be extended across additional brands in 2024.

By scanning the AQR code on the packaging, shoppers are directed to the Be My Eyes app, connecting them to volunteers who can read and describe cooking instructions or to a virtual AI-chat bot leveraging Chat GPT-4 capabilities to address recipe or cooking inquiries.

This marks the first integration of Be My Eyes AI technology with a food product, providing an AI-assisted cooking experience at home.

Rachana Dongre, Senior Digital Engagement and Strategy Lead Nutrition & Ice Cream at Unilever, notes the company’s commitment to using digital experiences for product accessibility.

Mike Buckley, CEO of Be My Eyes, emphasizes the significance of Unilever’s commitment in pioneering a new era in product accessibility and disability convenience.

The company plans to collect user feedback in collaboration with Be My Eyes and Zappar to optimize the technology for wider application across various Unilever products.

Unilever seeks to partner with accessibility experts and apps to extend AQR technology integration across different products, categories, and countries, sharing best practices with other businesses utilizing this technology.

In June last year, Unilever launched its new ‘Believe in Talent’ campaign to get more people with a disability working behind the camera in advertising production.

The consumer goods company has pledged to ensure all of its productions over €100,000 (US$108,927.50) include at least one person with a disability as part of the crew.

Unilever also created a new, open-source ‘Inclusive Production Toolkit’, outlining best practices to support people with disabilities in the industry.

The campaign forms part of Unilever’s Act 2 Unstereotype initiative, which aims to help under-represented communities have full access to opportunities in advertising.

“Content creators have created this wonderfully inclusive space on social media and are showing us that it’s possible to be authentic and break stereotypes,” concluded Aline Santos, Chief Brand Officer and Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Unilever.

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