Leading the charge for virtual fit assistants were Zafu, TrueFit, and MyShape. These services rely on surveys paired with extensive market research to divine the body measurements of their users. In August, Zafu and TrueFit graduated from their startup phase when they partnered with major retailers (Charming Shoppes and Macy’s respectively) to deliver online fit recommendations via the retailers’ websites. MyShape was recently acquired by Mipso, and its technology has been incorporated as a white label product into 16 separate websites to date, according to Menny Shalom of Mipso.
2011 also saw the introduction by Unique Solutions, Tukatech, and UPcload of body scanners for the purpose of recommending clothing that fits. Unique Solutions is deploying body scanners that are similar to those recently rolled out at airports to measure customers’ bodies. They currently operate size matching stations under the brand Me-Ality near Atlanta and Philadelphia, and will expand their operations to Chicago’s North Brook and Water Tower malls on November 25th and 26th respectively. Tukatech’s Styku system leverages the less expensive Microsoft Kinect device to enable body scans either at an in-store kiosk embedded in the fitting room or at home via a PC. Once the customer scans him or herself, Styku recommends garments based on fit. The recommended garments are displayed using a sophisticated 3D visualization of the garment on an avatar that can be customized to resemble the user. UPcload uses an even cheaper sensor–a webcam. UPcload uses advanced image processing of the webcam feed to acquire an estimate of the user’s shape and size.
Virtual dressing rooms that allow customers to create a 3D model of their bodies to try on virtual clothes also entered the scene this year. My Virtual Model released virtual dressing room Facebook app called OneStopPlus that also has some social sharing and outfit making features. Fits.me is another popular virtual dressing room. They use a robotic mannequin that can morph its body shape to match a user’s body measurements. Shoppers get to see photos of the garments they are interested in on a mannequin that is morphed into their own shape and size.
Encouraged by the recent success of the established competition, five new virtual fit assistants were launched this fall: ZipFit.me, Size Wand, SizeSeeker, MimicMe, and WhatFitsMe. These startups plan to out-compete the competition by streamlining the process of acquiring customer’s body dimensions and delivering superior sizing advice and/or visualization.
It is interesting to note that, of the virtual fit assistants mentioned in this article, only Zafu is from Silicon Valley. TrueFit hails from Boston; MyShape and Size Wand are from New York City; the Me-Ality scanner and SizeSeeker come from Philadelphia; Styku is out of Los Angeles; ZipFit.me and WhatFitsMe are both being built in Chicago; My Virtual Model is out of Montreal; Fits.me originated in Estonia; UPcload is from Berlin; and MimicMe is from Amsterdam. The geographic diversity of the virtual fit assistant startups underscores the universality of the apparel sizing issue, and it highlights a growing trend towards decentralization of innovation.
With two of the vanguard virtual fit assistants gaining national traction, innovative body scanners being deployed to malls across America, new and exciting virtual dressing room technologies, and scrappy young startups entering the fray, it is shaping up to be the year that technology solves the clothing sizing issue.
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Great summary of the activity in this space. Â It would be great if an effective solution can be found for the clothing sizing issue. Â It would greatly enhance the online shopping experience.
My own experience with the size and fit prediction problem goes back over a decade.  Full disclosure, I am General Manager at My Virtual Model (mvm.com).  In 1999 we launched an online sizing solution on the LandsEnd e-commerce site where users input their measurements and receive size recommendations.  We had difficulty getting good measurements.  We tried to teach shoppers at home how to measure themselves.  We created videos and placed interactive tape measures on virtual models.  We even sent tape measures in the mail.  In 2001 we created a body scanning experience where people walked into a truck sponsored by LandsEnd, got scanned with a TC2 scanner, and exited with a print out of their measurements and a Virtual Model.  For fun you can see a slide show here http://youtu.be/iKxn_QEn7U8. Â
It was a lot of fun, but was not scalable and didn't work. Â After 5 years of trying and failing we concluded the following:Â
1. We could not ask users to measure themselves. Even just inputing measurements into a computer is a turn off. Â And a women does NOT want to see her body scan.
2. Getting the measurement specs for each garment is very time consuming, expensive and difficult to scale. Â There had to be a better way.
3. Even an error by 1 inch in either the person or the garment measurements could lead to a wrong size. Â
4. An understanding of how the person likes to wear their clothing is needed - for even if the measurements are accurate, a person may still prefer a size up or down depending on their style. Â Â Â
I look forward to see how the year will shape up.  My Virtual Model concentrates exclusively on visualizing outfits and mix & match, but we would love to combine our outfitting technology with a sizing solution that delivers on the promise.  Good luck to all the startups!
I am the founder of a company that sells custom clothing in the home to women. Since measuring is absolutely critical and fit preferences need to be discussed I believe the combination of on line and offline is here to stay. We add the personal touch to the on line experience. I have worked with my Virtual Model, MyShape and Unique (me-Ality) and I realized that those solutions although amazing technologies needed the personal touch. We will get there with making it easy for women to shop for the right fit - now we need to help with what is the most flattering.
Terri Ghio
Founder http://www.clubtuttomio.com  Â