Digital Mirrors Could Create Virtual Fitting Rooms In Retail Stores

By Ally Orlando, contributing writer

Soon retail solutions providers will have the ability to integrate with new digital mirror technology that engages consumers in a virtual fitting room experience.

MemoMi, a provider of interactive user experience technology, recently announced the launch of its MemoryMirror platform at Retail’s BIG Show, the annual National Retail Federation (NRF) convention and expo, at Intel’s Retail Solutions booth.

The MemoryMirror platform uses Intel integrated graphics technology to create consumer avatars, the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reports. The technology is activated by simple body gestures or the smartphone app and allows consumers to see 360-degree views of themselves in different outfit styles, sizes and colors – or even see themselves dressed in different outfits side by side.

Shoppers can then share these images and videos with friends through smartphone messaging and social media. These new capabilities could merge mobile and e-Commerce to create a multichannel experience that promotes innovation and convenience in brick-and-mortar stores.

However, the platform’s benefits could go beyond consumer engagement and social media reach. “Since MemoryMirror ‘remembers’ each customer interaction, it not only allows fashion retailers to provide an exciting in-store, web, and mobile shopping experience, but to collect valuable data on customer behaviors and preferences,” says MemoMi Founder and CEO Salvador Nissi Vilcovsky in an NRF press release.

MemoMi’s website says the company is currently working with retail technology providers to enhance their solution offerings and adapt to the rapidly-changing retail landscape.

“The retail landscape is expected to change more in the next 10 years than it has in the past 50 years due largely to the explosion of technology,” Michelle Tinsley, director of transactional retail at Intel Corporation, tells the Journal Sentinel.

“Several new innovative technologies have recently emerged that are helping retailers make better use of big data while providing more engaging and personalized experiences for consumers who make purchases at home or in-store.”

Currently, luxury retail brands like Burberry and McQ by Alexander McQueen are employing similar technology in select stores. A recent article in The Drum reports that Burberry’s Regent Street store in London includes products that trigger video screens and digital mirrors similar to the MemoMi technology that allow consumers to take “selfies.”