Here is a company that does things a little differently. Catering to the evolving shopping habits, and in a sense creating them, Warby Parker devised an AR Virtual Try-On tool for selecting a pair of glasses frames. It is not the first tool of its kind out there, but like we said, Warby Parker does things a little differently.
Lazy consumers that we are, there is no denying that shopping technology is heading for the better. As the likes of Ikea or Macy’s are arguing, see-before-you-buy is being replaced with try-before-you-buy routine. And lately, no one took this further than Warby Parker with its AR Virtual Try-On tool that uses Augmented Reality to sugar place glasses frames onto users’ faces. It works like charm.
The company co-founder Dave Gilboa was pleased to share the idea behind the tech. With customer care rarely seen in news today, he readily admits that ‘shopping for glasses is challenging for most people’. It is the placement that presents a challenge, face with its intricacies means that changes, however miniscule in scope, will be noticed. Glasses are ‘the only products that you wear on your face’, Gilboa argues, ‘and slight differences in sizing or shape can have a dramatic effect on whether a frame fits well or not’. Given the idea exposed here, Warby Parker Virtual Try-On tool may mean the difference between making or breaking a deal. Particularly for those who don’t enjoy a convenience of brick-and-mortar stores nearby.
Remember we said that the company shakes things up form the usual Augmented Reality put-‘em-on? And the shakes here matter. Appreciating the complexity of a human face, Warby Parker AR Virtual Try-On uses Apple Face ID with 30, 000 invisible dots to render a perfect facial image. This image as a basis, Warby Parker devised a method of ‘unique placement’ as they call it whereby the tool renders a precise 3D pairing of face plus glasses. The result is easy on the eye, yet the technology behind it is all pretty advanced stuff.
The Virtual Try-On features a few gimmicks to make it a proper all-rounder when it comes to online glasses shopping. The interface is simple, a single swipe will immediately render another pair of glasses, while the rendered image moves the ways your head does to check the angles. The tool even includes a built-in photo-sharing feature for your friends’ approval.
Warby Parker belongs to that rare breed of businesses bold enough to give their customer-oriented ideas a go despite the logistics challenges. It only takes a cursory glance at the company history to see that the try-on idea is what made Warby Parker successful. It was them who introduced Home Try-On by sending frames to people’s homes to decide on their pair. Fast-forward nine years and AR Virtual Try-On tool serves as an infinitely more convenient glasses shopping gizmo. It helps both customers and, why not say it, the company, make the right choice first try.
