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She's Revolutionizing Hair Braiding..Meet Halo

Halobraid is a revolutionary device for textured hair that was created by Nigerian-American biomechanical engineer, Yinka Ogunbiyi.  This automated hair braiding machine was designed to assist professional hair braiders to complete braided styles at a much quicker rate.  Long braiding sessions can be cut in half with the Halobraid device.  Braids that are started by hand are fed into the cylindrical device and finished there.


                                             Yinka Ogunbiyi


As a child, Yinka would get hair braided in a salon and this served as the inspiration behind Halobraid. “My braid story starts at age four, sitting between my mum’s legs as she braided my hair for the first time.”  She recalled spending thousands of hours sitting in a chair to get her hair braided growing up.  Hearing the stories of hairstylists and clients held a common theme: the strain, time and effort it took to achieve the perfect set of braids.


The first public demo of the assisted braid device was unveiled early this week.  Even though the braid is finished by the device, the hairstylist remains essential to the braiding process. Application of product, parting the hair and starting the braid are steps that must be completed prior to feeding it into the device.  Braids are inserted on a singular basis.  Halobraid handles the repetition of the weaving of the braid after which the stylist can return to the braid to finish it or to seal the ends. In the released video, the public is able to see the unfinished braid fed in to the machine while it is gently fed back out a completed braid.  Utilizing the Halobraid, allows professional braiders to complete a full head of braids up to five times faster than they normally would.


                         

Does the machine complete various braid types such as cornrows or larger braids? It appears that HaloBraid is limited to box braids and knotless braids but it is able to handle braids of various sizes from micro to x-large sizes. It does not yet have the ability to add braiding hair or extensions to a finished braid.


Pricing for the Halobraid device is not yet available but potential users will not be able to purchase the device upfront.  A rental fee will be charged subjective to the number of appointments where Halobraid is used.  Interested hairstylists and salons can apply to be part of the exclusive Founding stylist community of Halobraid assisted braiders.  The device is not available for home consumers.


What a way to give back to the culture and community by creating a product that caters to the textures of those within it.  Ogunbiyi designed this device with her mum, aunties and stylists in mind; making their field of service just a little bit easier. All the aunties have got to be proud!

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