News

Private Photoshoots, Powered By AI And Built For Arab Women

self.space offers a fully private, tech-led studio experience designed for women in the GCC who value modesty, control, and beautifully natural results.

Published

12 months ago

July 21, 2025

Nour Nasir

private photoshoots powered by ai and built for arab women

In a region where modesty and privacy aren’t just preferences but lived and religious principles, traditional photography studios can feel alien, especially for women. The lights, the lens, the presence of strangers — it all creates tension. self.space, a new concept launching in Dubai this September, wants to change that.

The idea is simple but radical: step into a sealed, boutique-like room, alone. There’s no photographer, no audience — just you, a smart mirror, and cinema or studio-grade hardware. What happens next is entirely in your hands.

First piloted at the 2024 Arab Media Summit, the concept struck an immediate chord. Emirati women queued for hours to try it. Some emerged in tears, telling the team it was the first time they had loved a photo of themselves — not because the camera made them look different, but because for once, they felt in control.

“We discovered that people reject their photos mainly because tension never leaves their faces — not because they or the photographers lack talent or beauty,” say co-founders Mitia Muravev (CEO) and Peter Bondarenko (CPO). “That unease is sharper in the Arab world, where privacy and modesty are woven into daily life”.

Mitia steers the brand’s vision and partnerships, while Peter engineers the technology stack — from embedded cameras and soft LED rigs to edge AI and encryption. The result? A user-led shoot experience that’s as secure as it is elegant.

Also Read: Twitch Launches Arabic Right-To-Left Interface For Web & Mobile

Inside the studio, images are captured with a tap. An onboard neural model enhances color and smooths skin in real-time — editorial polish, minus the fakery. Each shot is encrypted and uploaded to a private gallery, accessible only via a one-time code sent to the user’s phone.

The space itself is intentionally calming: part spa, part tech capsule. “We don’t sell photos,” the team insists. “We sell a moment of radical self-ownership. The beauty was already there — our tech just lets you relax enough to see it”.

With over 4,000 users and zero data privacy incidents during early activations, self.space is betting big on the region. The flagship studio opens in Al Quoz this September — and the team has their sights set on turning privacy-first photography into the new norm across the GCC.

News

A Three-Clinic Network Bets Dubai Is Ready For Longevity Medicine

Longevium has enlisted nearly 100 clinicians and created an AI platform in a bid to sell biological-age tracking as a medicine, not a wellness service.

Published

2 days ago

July 13, 2026

Dana Saadeh

a three-clinic network bets dubai is ready for longevity medicine

Dubai has been busily creating the scaffolding for a longevity industry, including a dedicated regulatory authority and a health market deep enough to sustain it. Now the clinics are arriving.

Longevium, a longevity clinic network, has opened three locations across the city: a flagship at Triple Seven Mall on Jumeirah 3, and branches in Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Village Circle. Together they house a multidisciplinary team of nearly 100 physicians and specialists offering what the company bills as “a measurable medical system for longevity”.

longevity dubai clinic launch

The pitch is that longevity medicine should look less like a wellness menu and more like continuous clinical care. Each patient’s biological age assessment, laboratory results, body composition, cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic markers, and lifestyle data feed into a single profile, with a proprietary AI platform helping physicians track progress and adjust protocols against the patient’s own biomarkers.

“Healthy aging must be approached clinically through diagnostics, biomarkers, physician supervision, longitudinal tracking, and protocols tailored to the individual,” said Dr. Ksenia Butova, Longevium’s founder and CEO. “Our goal is to help patients understand their health trajectory before disease develops, and then actively change that trajectory”.

The treatment list spans peptide-based protocols, exosome therapies, stem cell approaches, GLP-1 metabolic optimization, hormone balance programs, cardiovascular prevention, and regenerative aesthetics — a model built for the entrepreneurs, executives, and international patients the clinic says want measurable results rather than generic wellness. A signature offering, Longevity Day, compresses biomarker testing, ultrasound and vascular imaging, specialist consultations, IV therapy, and a personalized optimization roadmap into a single three-hour visit.

Also Read: Dubai Certifies The World’s First Purpose-Built Air Taxi Vertiport

“Here, longevity, biotechnology, AI, prevention, and regenerative medicine are converging into a single ecosystem,” said Butova. “This is why Longevium was built in Dubai, and why we believe the UAE can become a global reference point for longevity medicine”.

The emirate established the Dubai Longevity Authority in 2026 to oversee its longevity, wellness, and advanced health sectors, and the Dubai Health Authority reported insured beneficiaries exceeding 4.9 million in 2025, up around 6.5%, with insurance claims reaching approximately 49.6 million, up around 13.5%.