Walmart shoppers can now virtually try on clothes from the comfort of their own home using AR technology in the retailer’s app.
The new Be your own model experience requires customers to upload a full body photo of themselves to create a realistic simulation of what a garment would look like on their own body. The feature is able to recognize where the dust should fall and shadows should fall, powered by the company takeover of the Zeekit virtual try-on platform last year.
“A single shirt can come in six different colours, seven different sizes and two sleeve lengths. Our technology captures all variations and shows how they look unique on each individual,” Walmart said in a press release announcing the new feature.
The technology itself is one thing, but the scale of its capabilities is quite another. With Be Your Own Model, more than 270,000 garments in Walmart’s brand portfolio can be tried on. Items from select national brands such as Levi’s, Champion and Hanes are also available to try on.
Zeekit’s virtual fitting room technology was first used by Walmart in its less personal Choose My Model Experience in March. However, instead of virtually dressing the customer, they could choose from one of 50 different female models with a variety of skin tones, heights between 1.80 and 1.80 meters tall, and sizes from XS to XXXL. Walmart will continue to offer this feature to anyone who isn’t comfortable uploading their own photo.
Image: Walmart
A video walkthrough of the feature shows that users simply need to take a full-body photo of themselves wearing shoes and form-fitting shorts and top in a well-lit area, then enter their height when prompted. They can then reuse the image as a model when purchasing clothes from Walmart via the app or via desktop. It’s unclear how the tech handles strapless tops and dresses and it doesn’t seem to support menswear at all.
Unfortunately, Walmart’s announcement of the Be Your Own Model feature makes no mention of how the world’s largest retailer plans to protect the semi-nude images it asks customers to upload en masse. We have reached out to the company for comment and will update this story if we hear anything.
The Be Your Own Model experience is available through the Walmart app and is currently rolling out first to iOS users, with Android support expected in the coming weeks.
