Autolife | HairSpace
Automated haircuts
An introduction for salon chains
Auckland, New Zealand · 2026
AUTOLIFE
Who we are
Autolife Limited
A technology company in Auckland, New Zealand. We make the HairSpace smart clipper and salon system.
Backed by investors and the New Zealand Government
Investment from WNT Ventures and R&D funding from Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand's innovation agency.
The team
Michael Woffindin
Founder and CEO
Chris Thomson
Strategy and product
Sam Blok
Industrial design
Jérémie Delaitre
Software architect
Iain Henderson
Hardware engineer
Niamh Given
Investment advisor
OUR MISSION
Any haircut a customer wants, cut automatically
WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE
The customer's usual cut, or a new one. The smart clipper cuts it automatically. The same result every time. Ten minutes.
HOW WE ACHIEVE IT
The cutting skill is now digital, in the system - so the result no longer depends on who is doing the cut.
WHAT WE HAVE DONE
Progress so far
PROTOTYPE 1
A complete automated clipper - tracking, measuring and cutting
2024 TRIALS
11 people, fully automated haircuts
2026 - NOW: THE SALON CLIPPER
In development
Not yet for sale. We are starting conversations with partners now.
WHY IT MATTERS
Where this leads for your salon chain
GROW FASTER
Store growth no longer depends on finding stylists
1
New staff can cut hair after a few days of training
2
A new store just needs a location, the equipment, and short training
3
Your stylists focus on creativity and the customer
4
Long term: customers can also cut their own hair in a self-service booth
YOUR ADVANTAGE OVER COMPETITORS
Reasons a customer chooses you
1
Their favourite cut, exactly the same every time
2
Any store, any city
3
Only you have their saved cut - so they come back
4
A new look without the risk - they see it on their own head first
THE VISION
What it will look like in your salons
A concept store, where staff assist each cut
The station
A digital mirror, fixed cameras, the smart clipper in its dock, and controlled lighting.
The guided workflow
The screen guides the operator step by step: measure, cut, check nothing is missed. Training takes days, not years.
The style catalogue
Their usual cut, or any style from a growing catalogue - tried on first, then cut.
THE VISION
Every style a customer could want
The latest looks · celebrity styles · styles designed by your stylists
1
Browse the style catalogue
Always growing: new looks, celebrity cuts, your stylists' designs - and their usual cut
2
Try it on
See it on their own head, before any hair is cut
3
Make it theirs
Shorter at the sides, longer on top - until it is exactly right
4
Cut it now
The smart clipper cuts it - automatically. A new style in one visit
Stage one, proven with our first prototype and now being finished for salons: the system reproduces a customer's existing haircut. The style catalogue technology comes next, or alongside it - shaped with our launch partners.
How our haircuts are done
HOW THE HAIRCUTS ARE DONE
Every haircut your salons cut is unique
Head shape
How the hair grows
How the hair falls
The same style, on two different customers, is two different haircuts.
EVERY HAIRCUT YOUR SALONS CUT IS UNIQUE ...
We can cut every one of them automatically — with a digital twin
1
Head shape
This customer's exact head shape
+
2
The length of every hair, where it grows
Each hair is lifted straight and measured, at its place on the head
WORKS FOR
Hair up to 100 mm (10 cm) long
HOW THE HAIRCUTS ARE DONE
A real person’s digital twin
HOW THE HAIRCUTS ARE DONE
Two ways to make a digital twin
TODAY
Scanned from an existing haircut
NEXT
Generated from the style catalogue
HOW THE HAIRCUTS ARE DONE
This is how we cut a haircut:
we cut to the digital twin
1
The customer comes back - their hair has grown
2
Lift every hair straight. Cut it back to the length in the twin.
3
The same haircut - whoever is doing the cut
Any style: every style is a different twin. The clipper does the same thing every time.
HOW IT WORKS
From the digital twin to a real haircut
One clipper, two jobs - measure the hair map, cut to the hair map. Five technologies make both jobs happen.
1
Tracking
Cameras in the booth know where the clipper is on the head
2
Hair lift hooks
Lift the hair straight - ready to measure, or to cut
3
Hair measuring
Measure the lifted hair: its length at this point
4
The hair map
Every measurement goes on the map - the digital twin of the haircut
5
Cutting
Or cut from the map: the blade moves to the right length for this point
Every hair is lifted straight. So the length is exact - when we measure, and when we cut.
JOB 1 - MEASURE
Measuring: how we build the digital twin
JOB 2 - CUT
Cutting: how we cut to the digital twin
WHAT IT CAN DO
The types of haircuts it does
IT CUTS
Any haircut up to 100 mm (10 cm) long
Cutting range – 0 to 100 mm
FOR EXAMPLE
Short back and sides, longer on top
Textured crops, side parts, crew cuts, quiffs
Blends, tapers and fades
Women's short cuts
ACCURACY
Within 2-3 mm - measuring and cutting
HAIR TYPES
Thin, thick and slightly curly - all in the 2024 trials
DRY HAIR
Cuts dry hair
IN AUCKLAND
Our demo booth
The experience for a new customer, from start to finish
We have built this booth. Come to Auckland and try the experience for yourself.
Today it demonstrates the tracking. Full haircuts can be demonstrated once our salon clipper is finished.
WORKING TOGETHER
Why talk to us now
The salon clipper is in development. While we finish it, we want to start talking to partners.
1
First to market with new technology
The first salon chain with automated haircuts - a clear lead over competitors.
2
Shaped for your chain from the start
Booth footprint, workflow, hygiene, the operating model - designed with a launch partner from the start, not adapted later.
3
We are looking for launch partners
We move faster and learn faster with a partner: real customers, a real salon network, and your knowledge of your market.
Launch partners shape the product - including the style catalogue - and get it first.
Michael Woffindin
Founder and CEO, Autolife Limited
michael@autolife.io
+64 21 161 9325
Auckland, New Zealand