Bold Metrics and Morph 3D are working together to merge their technologies — advanced artificial intelligence, or AI, technology that predicts human measurements, and an avatar and character management platform — to bring to market an augmented reality avatar.
The launch comes as retailers have been seeking ways to woo fickle consumers with a more seamless, omnichannel and in-store shopping experience. The end goal is to build shopper loyalty. And more recently, companies are looking toward virtual and augmented reality to resolve a well-rooted issue: the struggle of the dressing room and inaccurate sizing methods.
With the use of the Bold Metrics/Morph 3D technology, consumers can immediately create avatars according to their body measurements and view products in relation to their virtual self. The measuring tape can stay in the junk drawer — the technology deploys Bold Metric’s algorithms that devises measurements specific to the avatar that then deciphers how it will relate to other items in space. Morph 3D then optimizes the results to generate realistic avatars that relieve the user of the need to use either a 3-D body scan or take her own measurements.
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“Until VR and AR technology is in our homes, the technology will primarily be accessible in brick-and-mortar stores. Brick-and-mortar retail has suffered as Amazon continues to grow. Consumers today need a reason beyond shopping to visit a physical store. This technology creates an exciting immersive in-store experience for shoppers to experience AR — most for the first time — interact with holographic products, and experience a brand in an entirely new way,” said Morgan Linton, cofounder and chief operating officer at Bold Metrics.
Mobile commerce is steadily encroaching on traditional computer territory as spending continues to occur more via smartphones. Augmented reality serves a very real purpose given the current landscape. Consumers are searching for products at after-hour times but look for in-store quality customer service.
And even when the roles are reversed — shoppers that buy in-person — retailers stand to gain revenue and loyalty by offering virtual and augmented reality shopping options. Research conducted by Salesfloor, a retail technology company that connects e-commerce shoppers with in-store sales associates found that 31 percent of sales were completed in-store after consumers received a personalized product recommendation directly from a sales associate via its online platform.
By connecting these two worlds to devise a consistent and egalitarian level of customer service through these different channels, customers not only play by their own rules — a must — but retailers and brands are able to capture pertinent data to track shopping patterns and shifting habits in real-time.
Bold Metrics and Morph 3D aren’t the first to enter the augmented reality forum. Google unveiled its partnership with Gap to realize its Dressing Room app that enables users to see themselves in items. Home Depot’s mobile app also deploys similar technology — users are able to visualize how an item will appear in their space before purchasing.
Cementing it as a necessity for retailers and consumers alike, the accuracy presented by the technology further instills its likelihood to become commonplace in the market. The best technologies serve an answer to a question not yet realized by shoppers. In the face of Amazon’s invasion into brick-and-mortar and ever-accelerating delivery options, retailers and brands are charged to invent and source their own solutions.
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