April 25, 2013
I bought something through an Online Store and it doesn't fit. Now what?
Jonathan Coon, co-founder and CEO of 1-800 Contacts and its spin-off site Glasses.com wants to let you have a better online shopping experience: instead of just seeing the glasses online, you can now find a right glass using a 3D model of your face.
"Online shopping today is just a digital version of the Sears catalog from 100 years ago. The days of putting a photo of a product up on a white background with a price are over." said Coon.
Coon's new app, Glasses.com 3D Fit, set to launch in April as an iOS app for Glasses.com, allows you to see how you look in various styles of glasses.
Here's how it works: First you download the app. Using an iPad, you slowly take a video of your face, first one side and then turn to the other side, while the camera captures around 300 to 450 frames. The app then isolates 15 different angles and creates a 3D rendering of your head. Coon described it as a sort of inverted augmented reality. "We're using the virtual to calculate the real thing for the first time," he said.
Then you can try various glasses by placing a range of styles on 3D model of your face, and swipe back and forth to check how they look from all different angles. You will find it pretty real with reflections and drop shadows shown on your face.
You can even pull the glasses slightly down on your face and see how they might look resting on your nose. Once you have selected a few that you like the most, you can send a link and an image to your friends so they can vote. Glasses.com will tally the votes and let you know the most popular pair.
Coon admitted that he was not sure how popular this app will be. But, in his opinion, there's a larger significance here.
"The real story here isn't virtual try-on of glasses," he said. "The Glasses.com application will be to augmented-reality shopping what 'Toy Story' was for computer-generated animated films.
"Prior to 'Toy Story,' CG was just used in a scene — it wasn't 100 percent of a movie," Coon said. "And it often wasn't very good. 'Toy Story' was the first 100 percent CG animated film, the first to look good and the first to achieve commercial success."
Source: Mashable
Posted in 3D Software
Maybe you also like:
- Mcor Technologies introduces ColourIT software
- Autodesk: The future of 3D printing at home
- 3D modeling startup Handprint moving into the Feld Fiberhouse
- Doodle3D sketching tool for 3D printing launched on Kickstarter
- Cubize: a YouTube-like virtual showroom of 3D models
- New CGTrader aiming to be an eBay-like 3D model marketplace
- yeggi: search engine for printable 3D models
- 3D Industri.es launches 3D search engine for industrial parts
- Announcing the closure of Tinkercad, new Airstone under development
- Kinect for Windows SDK gets update tomorrow, includes hand-recognition and 3D-modeling
- Customization at reach: Sandboxr's 3D Design-to-Print on Kickstarter
- Cimatron names Terry Wohlers as first member of 3D Printing Advisory Board
- MakieLab's 3D-printed dolls now available on iPad
dsd
Gerald wrote at 7/10/2013 1:50:39 AM:
Well, I tried this app on my Ipad, and I think it is fantastic. Going into a store to try on frames is no fun, and there is pressure to buy whatever they happen to have on hand. I also like that these folks will send you 4 frames of your choosing to try at home without any obligation, and they pay the shipping both ways. I am going to have a new eye exam done locally, and I am sure I will end up buying a couple of pairs of glasses from this company.
3Ders.org provides the latest news about 3D printing technology and 3D printers. We are now seven years old and have around 1.5 million unique visitors per month.
