There’s a lot happening these days in the race to capture consumer body dimensions in the hopes of serving up better-fitting clothes.
The industry is taking different approaches, with some building giant machines that use cameras or laser arrays to visualize bodies from every angle, while more low-tech developments want to leverage the tool that virtually everyone has in hand: the omnipresent smartphone.
But while most phone-based body-measurement solutions require users to snap a couple selfies that an algorithm will then crunch into usable data, Israel’s My Size Inc. tackles body measurement differently. It bypasses the phone’s camera in favor of its accelerometer and gyrometer, manipulating the data they yield through physics and machine learning to calculate a person’s height, chest, waist, hip and inseam measurements.
Here’s how it works: after setting up a user profile in the My Size ID mobile app, consumers in close-fitting clothing move into the app’s measurement mode. There’s a start and stop button for each measurement—height, chest, etc. For height, users stand against a wall, place their phone on the floor, press the start button, raise the phone to the top of their head while keeping it level and then return it to the floor. My Size ID built in a series of beeps to guide users through the process. For example, capturing chest measurements involves moving the phone from one side of your chest to the other and back again, with a beep prompting you to return the phone to its original position.
It takes a moment to get used to this kind of measurement system but like other smartphone body-measuring solutions, it offers consumers the relative comfort of capturing their dimensions in the privacy of their homes rather than having to disrobe for an imposing scanner in a public space. Once the app has their measurements, consumers can see what size their measurements translate into for dozens of partner brands that have given My Size ID access to their size charts, affording shoppers the confidence to order the correct size through e-commerce the first time and avoid the hassle of having to return poorly fitting garments.
My Size ID is in the midst of consumer testing, scanning volunteers to continue fine-tuning the UI and UX of the technology before bringing it to market. The company has received two U.S. patents and two more in Japan and Russia, with additional applications pending.