AR / MR / VR – B2B Solutions for the Fashion Industry

If you’d have to pick any industry which would be the best fit for innovation in visual technology, which would it be? I’d bet the fashion and clothing industry in general would be among your top 5! Especially in the upcoming ‘new-normal’ post-covid19 world. Can you imagine waiting in line at your local Zara in front of a changing room to try on clothes that someone else tried on like 10 times? Didn’t think so. But you CAN imagine users standing in front of an AR fitting mirror and trying on different outfits with a tap of the finger. That’s why the fashion industry is eager for the innovations that augmented, virtual and mixed reality bring!

We’ve narrowed it down to an example from each of the 3 aforementioned technologies, AR, MR & VR innovative fashion solutions.

One of the main products that will lead the innovation of the fashion industry in augmented reality clothing is certainly the augmented reality fitting mirror. This product consists of a giant screen in front of the user with a camera which can track the users movements and allows them to try on literally an infinite amount of products, from hats, sunglasses, jeans, shoes, etc.

The AR fitting mirror is a product which can be used by fashion retailers by placing it in the store for the consumers to use and cut down the time they spend in the changing room whilst trying on various designs.

The AR fitting mirror can also be used by the producers of fashion products, where they can use it in their showroom to present new designs to clients!

So, the Augmented Reality Fitting Mirror is adaptable to both the B2C and B2B business model for the fashion industry!

Mixed reality can have some people confused, but to simply put it as Microsoft described it’s HoloLens 2, a MR device is a self-contained standalone Mixed Reality (MR) holographic computer, which enables users to engage with digital 3D content and avatars as holograms who can interact with the real world around them.

An great example for an MR solution for the fashion industry would be in using HoloLens2, or a similar Mixed Reality device mainly in conducting B2B. For example, lets say a fashion brand wants to synchronize their design for the next season with the factory which will produce the fashion products. A great way to do it would be by using holographic visualization. A 3D model of the design, or even an avatar (fashion model) wearing it could appear right in front of you, and you could change the design with a tap of a finger, view it from all angles, change lighting conditions, etc.

Virtual Reality offers by far the most complex, yet most immersive experience when it comes to visualizing different environments. Many industries already successfully use complex VR solutions for a variety of applications, like virtual training for employees, architecture plan visualization and the most recent trend is VR meetings and conferences.

One of the ideas of how the fashion industry could apply VR in a B2B environment is through a complex system for visualization of 3D models and designs regarding fashion innovation and clothing innovations.

Imagine that you could put on a headset and a pair of haptic touch gloves and be transported directly to a factory. There you could see exactly what kind of designs are being proposed for your products, and with the haptic gloves, you could actually feel the fabric, be it silk, cotton or something else.

This kind of solution would significantly reduce costs of sending cloth and design samples from the factory to the customer!

The fashion industry is definitely ready for a major technology innovation! Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality & Virtual Reality could easily be applied to a vast majority of processes in this industry.