Hugo Boss’ Oxford Street flagship store will be the first in the UK to use new avatar-based virtual try-on technology that launches this week.
The new Pictofit Mirror from Reactive Reality, based in Graz, Austria, enables shoppers to create an avatar that it says reflects their exact body shape and measurements to a high (93%) degree of accuracy. Customers then use the avatar to try on clothes and accessories virtually. The mirror offers size recommendations and promises to show whether a piece of clothing is likely to be tight or loose around the body.
Reactive Reality says that shoppers can use the mirror to try on products that are not currently in stock, and it also removes the need to queues in order to try on an item in person. Shoppers can also later use the avatar that they created in-store to try on products online later on.
In-store, customers use a tablet to interact with the mirror display. The mirror shows the user’s avatar and the outfit that they want to try on. Shoppers can pair their own smartphone with the mirror – while an interactive touch option is also available.
Meanwhile, retailers can digitise their full product inventory to use with the virtual fitting room, using inputs from product photos to CAD models or 3D scans.
The new solution is the latest in a long line of virtual try-on technologies that aim to help retailers tackle the high levels of returns associated with buying fashion online. In 2021, for example, Gap bought avatar-based virtual fitting business Drapr as it looked to reduce its rate of returns at a time when its online business was growing quickly.
