Slashdot Mirror
Virtual Dummy To Try On Clothes
Roland Piquepaille writes "BBC News reports that Toshiba is working with a Japanese software company to create a 3-D fashion simulator that will allow virtual modelling and coordination of clothes, cosmetics and accessories in real time. This means that by as early as 2006, you will no longer have to contortion yourself in a minuscule fitting room. 'Video cameras snap the shopper, then clothes and accessories are selected and displayed immediately. The process of turning the images of the shopper into photo-realistic avatar -- or virtual representation -- happens in real-time.' This summary contains more details and references. It also contains images of a virtual model trying different clothes and accessories adapted to different backgrounds."
Oh, great. A computer simulation of my big, fat butt. I am overcome with joy at the prospect.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
This means that by as early as 2006, you will no longer have to contortion yourself in a minuscule fitting room.
...
And there goes the hidden cam live internet feed porn business
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I don't think they should have used "start with a naked model" and "seduce even men" in the same article. :-)
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
I defy anybody to be able to make my clothes match up though, what with this being /. and all. We shall not be cool!
Gee, I hate when I have to contortion myself anywhere. To even have to contort myself, grammatically correctly no less, would be even more brutal.
Canadian Cynic, canadian politics is less boring than you
My wife has been calling me a "virtual dummy" for years! Think I should apply for this job?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
> They need to finish perfecting the ones that take off their clothes FIRST.
First karaoke, now this.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Can you put it in chains ?
"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results" - Winston Churchill
The Barbie dress up program.
But who the hell can tell if something looks good on a screen ?
There is a LOT more to looking good than just "the clothes" or the style of the clothes.
Anyone who owns an Armani or HSM will attest to what I am talking about.
Boobs and asses could apply to either sex in the slashdot crowd.
Which is a 16 year old cheerleader.
Cool. Does this mean we will get to see naked photo-realistic avatars of all the other shoppers too??
;-)
If so, I'm going to start taking my girlfriend underwear shopping more often
I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
Reading the article, I notice that the digital model starts off nude, then has clothes rendered onto it. In order for these photorealistic images of a person in new clothes to be generated, it would seem that the software requires a nude scan of said person. Of course, the person could be scanned while clothed, but you'd really just be rendering new clothes on top of the old ones (which, in the software, would take on the rigidity of flesh). It might be possible to design an algorithm to "strip" the scans, but the accuracy would be limited by the varying bagginess of whatever the person is wearing.
Naturally, privacy and convenience concerns arise when one is asked to submit to a nude, full-body digital scan in order to use the new fitting system. The store could keep scans on file, making this a one-time affair, but unless a secure crypto system (wherein only the customer possesses the key) is implemented, the potential for creepy abuse is enormous.
One solution I can think of, however, is to do the scan in a private booth while the customer is only wearing underwear (most undergarments being tight-fitting enough as to not affect the image of the clothing being worn). This is still more convenient than going through a stack of clothes to try on, as the user needs only "change" once. The model for the system could be deleted after use, or the customer could elect to store it on a USB memory stick they bring with them, updating it only occasionally as their physical appearance changes significantly (it could even be stored centrally if a department store chain, or better yet a consortium of them, decides to implement a truly secure system).
It's true that this system doesn't offer as good a "feel" for clothing as actually trying on outfits. For men or women on the go, however, it could drastically reduce time spent clothes shopping. Imagine browsing through the latest fashions at home, picking out a few you like, then heading to the Department store, where they have everything you picked out, in your size, ready for you to try on (and you'll still want to, if for no other reason than to gauge the comfort of the clothing and verify the program's accuracy). An hours-long shopping trip could be reduced to a managable 10-15 minutes.
Of course, my wardrobe consists mostly of items from Goodwill or Thinkgeek, so this is of little utility to me. Nonetheless, it has some potential to make life a lot more convenient for my girlfriend, my sister, etc.
Anonymous Luddite: "What do you think of the dehumanizing effects of the Internet?"
Andy Grove: "Not Much."
back in 1970 i helped out with a somewhat similar project at the Royal College of Art in London (i was writing 3d mapping software at the time). Some lucky students got to digitise real-live naked girls. .. the hardware wasn't fantastic but it did work..
but it was a great excuse to closely examine some very pretty girls' bodies
the 3d-figures were used in a program that "hung" student's dress designs on them
Paul
www.opencouncil.org
Open
During the dotcom years, I remember meeting with a client who represented a company that was going to put 3d scanning stations in malls for this very purpose.
"It's simple!" sez their Marketroid. "You go into the booth, strip, get a full body scan, and then we upload the 3d model to our Microsoft Passport(tm)-like service. Then, any participating online retailer will be able to recommend sizes, show you how you personally would look in any outfit, and do dynamic upselling by showing how much better the Gucci looks."
They even had a plan to implement realtime draping/rendering software so you could get photo-realistic images of yourself in those clothes. They thought that boyfriends would finally be able to buy clothes for their girlfriends. They thought that geeks would start getting color coordination.
My first thought was: how many people are going to let some bizarre company photograph them in their underwear (or less), just so that company could better market to them?
My next thought was: nobody reads the disclaimer they sign. I'll set up booths in malls, and run a voyeur web site, and people will even pay to model!
My next thought was: Jesus, I've gone as insane as these lunatics. I need a drink.
Needless to say, they burned through a lot of money, and it never went anywhere. Some guys got some nice SGI hardware out of it for the software side. The "idea people" probably got nice fat salaries for a while, and then had to go back to selling life insurance or flipping burgers or something.
Jesus, do I miss those days!
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
I smell a lawsuit comming on. As soon as SCO realizes these people are using virtual dummies....after all that would be a virtual Darl, right?
. Quit playing Monopoly with Bill. Switch to one of many non-Microsoft products today.
1. I find it slightly disturbing that you included "your mom" in there.
2. Most of us would be more likely to have the problem of forgetting we don't have a woman, rather than forgetting how big her tits are. Or is that why you included "your mom"?
Ron Paul 2012