Imagine the number of times you have stretched your head over your shoulders to check out how the outfit you just pulled off the racks, falls on your back. It is a bi of a stretch, quite literally.
But now a digital mirror can help you decide on buying that outfit, without all the head-bends. The device, which contains a video camera, captures a 360 degree view of what an outfit looks like, and makes side-by-side comparisons.
MemoMi, a California-based company, that has launched and patented the Memory Mirror, is one of the most advanced working with virtual dressing.
The digital mirror can playback twirls, so the shopper can see themselves from every angle.
A handful of high-end retailers are testing versions of this digital fitting room. Shoppers will see it in more US stores in the next few months.
Later versions of the device will allow users to see the garments change colour.
But the new technology is also raising issues of privacy — executives say customers are offered a choice and the data is being protected. but some believe they are not going far enough.
As long as customers know and are given a right to choose what is collected or what their interactive experience is, that probably makes sense to most people, but our concern is clandestine or surreptitious collection of data.
— Nuala O’Connor, President and CEO, Center for Democracy and Technology.
Whether or not smart dressing rooms are good for both consumer and seller, high street fashion technology continues its rapid ascent.