Walmart’s virtual fitting room lets you use your own photos, but we have questions
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Walmart is improving its virtual fitting room service by now allowing people to upload photos of themselves and see how clothes fit on their bodies.
The new tool is called Be your own model (opens in new tab), a sequel to Choose My Model. With the old version, you had to choose a body similar to yours from a selection of 50 models to see how clothes fit you. It was a cool concept, but with notable limitations. You had to watch the whole process and hope you could find a physical match. Be Your Own Model makes fitting virtual clothes easier and more accurate.
Walmart says it uses “algorithms and complicated machine learning models” to help people better visualize what clothes look like. You have access to over 270,000 items in the company catalog, including some brand names, with plans to expand. According to the announcement, all items will be women’s clothing, but there are reports (opens in new tab) that Be Your Own Model is being expanded with men’s and children’s clothing.
The update is now making its way to the Walmart app on iOS, and soon users will be able to upload their photos to a desktop computer and try Choose My Model there. There will be a rollout to “Android devices” in the coming weeks.
How it works
To get started with Be Your Own Model, find an item of clothing in the Walmart app that supports the new tool, then tap the Try It On button. From there, prop up your iPhone and snap a photo of yourself in a brightly lit room wearing close-fitting clothing. The app should be able to see your entire body. It will then ask you how tall you are, and after a short moment the app will show you the outfit on your body.
Fitting the clothes is not a simple overlay either, as Be Your Own Model will simulate how a dress falls on a body, as well as drape shadows and fabrics. This is thanks to the “machine learning models,” according to Walmart. The tech also takes into account color, sizes and even sleeve lengths on shirts.
There is one major omission in the announcement and that is the level of security found in Be Your Own Model. As stated before, you will have to photograph yourself in close-fitting clothing, but nowhere does it say how Walmart will protect these images. Not even a brief mention of what type of encryption technology is used, if at all.
We contacted Walmart and asked them about the security of Be Your Own Model and any limitations the tool might have, such as if it only accepts certain file sizes. This story will be updated if we hear anything.
Changing reality
Thinking about Be Your Own Model made us realize how often virtual and augmented reality has appeared in factors of life other than video games. For example, virtual makeup began to reappear in 202. with it, people can upload pictures of themselves and see what a particular cosmetic looks like on their face before buying. Amazon has done something similar with Amazon showrooma service that allows you to place virtual furniture in a virtual room to give you an idea of what it will look like in your home.
It is not known whether other major stores will have virtual fitting rooms. Amazon’s patent on smart mirrors for virtual clothes didn’t really go anywhere, but there are apps like YourFit (opens in new tab), so the potential is there. But no one has benefited as much from virtual fitting rooms as Walmart.
If you want to know how augmented reality can affect lives even more, be sure to check TechRadar’s story about Microsoft bringing the technology to vehicles.