Lithuanian scientists are creating a virtual measuring booth – MadeinVilnius.lt

Shopping in brick-and-mortar clothing stores is a pleasant pastime for some, and an exhausting experience for others. Difficulties are also encountered when buying clothes online, when the wrong size garment sent to the home has to be returned to the seller. In order to alleviate these inconveniences, innovator Andrius Marcinkevičius, together with Vytautas Magnus University (VDU) researchers, is developing an innovative idea: creating a virtual measuring cabin “FitSpace”, which is based on three-dimensional (3D) spatial avatars.

“When we shop online, we download several sizes because we don’t know which one will fit us best. These numbers are extremely large. In certain segments, 30-50 percent. goods return to stores. In this case, not only does the air pollution caused by cars increase, but the customer’s experience after receiving an unsuitable garment that needs to be returned is extremely bad,” says A. Marcinkevičius, noting that “FitSpace” is a new way to solve this problem and help consumers in a hurry.

“If you create your exact digital twin using FitSpace, then you will be able to virtually try on the offered range of clothes and purchase the option you like without leaving your home,” explains A. Marcinkevičius.

Attracted EU funding – more than 196 thousand. euros

The technology developed in the multimedia laboratory of the VMU Faculty of Informatics attracted more than 196,000 applications from the European Union in the autumn of last year. euro financing.

“So far, most of the opinions are positive. On your mobile phone, by swiping your finger to the side, you conveniently choose clothes and immediately see how they look on your avatar. For users, not only realistic rendering is important, but also convenient functionality – ease of use of technology”, the initiator of the idea was happy with the feedback.

Although the team developing the 3D technology still has various legal, ethical and other issues to resolve, they are already looking ahead to improving the virtual measuring booth with the help of artificial intelligence. “We are currently deciding how to extract the necessary parameters of the user’s face and body from the photos and use them to generate the user’s avatar,” shares innovation enthusiast A. Marcinkevičius.

According to the interviewer, users will have the opportunity to easily and quickly create their own 3D avatar (pseudo-portrait) from face and body photos, as well as enter their shoulders, hips, waist, height, weight and several additional parameters. The tool also allows you to quickly choose from several different body shapes if the user does not want to go into details.

It will be enough to try on virtually even in physical stores

In addition to all this, the developers of FitSpace plan to apply the technology being developed to physical clothing stores as well. It is planned to install smart mirrors in them. “When you come to the store, you will find a screen – a smart mirror, on which, after choosing your avatar, you will swipe to the side – you will try on and choose the right clothes virtually, you will go to the virtual basket, pay and collect the clothes”, A. Marcinkevičius described the vision of the future.

Introducing the concept of a digital twin (avatar), he says that it is an exact copy, or replica, of a real object. In the fitting room, it interacts with other digital twins – 3D clothing models. This makes it possible to measure and evaluate in a very realistic way how the clothes would look on the human body in reality, how the fabric of the clothes looks, taking into account its real physical properties: materiality, plasticity, volume, etc.

The innovator notes that the virtual fitting room is an idea that is already in its second decade, but technological limitations have so far prevented the creation of a good interaction between 3D and artificial intelligence.

“Nowadays, we already have graphics cards that can simulate the interaction of three-dimensional models in real time on a computer screen. Yes, in order to enable the interaction of 3D models and artificial intelligence, huge computing and power resources are still needed, but my team and I are already working to effectively apply the latest technologies in the fashion industry”, says A. Marcinkevičius.

Uniqueness – 3D technology and personalization

From other startups offering similar solutions, FitSpace stands out because it uses three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional technology, as well as a strong focus on personalizing the digital twin: selecting the user’s face and body shapes. In the future, the team developing the technology plans to provide options for face color, hairstyle, accessories such as glasses or earrings. Thanks to 3D and artificial intelligence, a realistic image is obtained on the screen. If the garment is too small for the person, it will be possible to clearly see this before ordering the garment.

According to A. Marcinkevičius, this technology is planned to be implemented in clothing stores. The various FitSpace solutions are planned to have different pricing, but specific pricing would depend on the customer’s needs.

“We offer two solutions for fashion retailers – integration into the client’s website and a smart mirror solution for the client’s physical stores. When integrating in the latter, the developed software also needs hardware, which consists of a touch-sensitive screen and a powerful computer, with which we can simulate the interaction of digital clothes with the avatar in real time”, explains the interviewer.

3D clothes can be created in an hour

A team of innovators can create a 3D garment in an hour, but it can take longer, up to several weeks, depending on the complexity of the garment. Although 3D models can be created today by artificial intelligence solutions alone, they are not yet accurate enough. FitSpace plans to also use AI and automate processes, but first it needs to collect a large database that will be needed to train the necessary AI models.

While improving the technology, the authors of the innovation are simultaneously working on business development: this year they intend to establish a relationship with 3-5 clothing stores. For fashion retailers, FitSpace promises a variety of benefits – fewer product returns, higher average order value, more time consumers spend on the website, and more.

“There is certainly interest, but we also feel a bit of timidity, because it is still not popular and everyday. Both fashion retail representatives and consumers need some time to get used to it, so the implementation of such innovations is not a very fast process”, A. Marcinkevičius notes.

The startup’s team consists of 3D and artificial intelligence experts and sales managers. Responsible for the technological development of the company is the head of the multimedia laboratory of the VMU Faculty of Informatics, Dr. Edgar Ščiglinskas. FitSpace employees are advised by several experts on artificial intelligence issues, including Prof. Dr. Tomas Krilavičius.

In the second half of the year, the tool is planned to be available on the FitSpace website via mobile phone and computer. According to A. Marcinkevičius, users will have the opportunity to take a look, test the services and receive feedback.

The author of the article is Martynas Žiūrys, Vytautas the Great University