Amazon patents mixed reality mirror

After Zalando comes Amazon. Buying clothes seems to be getting easier and easier. The recently granted US patent shows that Amazon is working on a mixed reality mirror that allows users to try on clothes without having to change clothes.

We have already met in February 2017 in a Contribution asked: Is this the future of shopping? Back then, there were already various systems that made it easy to try on clothes with the help of VR or AR, without having to change clothes. But with Amazon's patent, a big player is now entering the market. New on the Amazon patent is that the company uses a real mirror with which real reflections are included in the mixed reality.

From fairly to totally virtual

The patent describes a mirror behind which a screen is installed. The mirror is translucent so that images of the display behind it shine through. This creates a mixed reality of natural reflection and digital projection on the surface of the mirror. 3D sensors built into the frame detect the user and ensure a smooth transition between real and digital image information.

A drawing accompanying the patent shows an application example: A man stands in front of a mirror and appears on its surface in his normal clothes within a digitally projected beach landscape.

The reverse case would also be conceivable: The mirror would reflect the real environment and show the customer in swimming trunks instead. Or you could combine both scenarios: The customer could stand in front of the mirror in his normal clothes and would appear on a beach in swimming trunks.

Amazon expands fashion business

In October, Amazon bought the New York startup Body Labs, which specialises in automated creation of 3D models of the human body using depth sensors and special algorithms. A mixed reality mirror could be located in the company's offline shops in the future, which are also planned in Germany. Because the mirror digitally projects the clothes onto the user's body, the goods would no longer have to be displayed in the shop.

Amazon sees great growth potential in the clothing trade and is investing in its own fashion brands. Our Swiss Textile University of Applied Sciences also sees it this way and already ran the headline last year: The transformation has long since begun, as we reported.

Source: Vrodo