Shopping in pandemic times is not easy: a lot can be done online – but not always smoothly. Clothing manufacturer H&M, of which almost everyone has a part in their closet, now wants to work on a solution that should not only improve online shopping.

Online stores

H&M develops “digital changing room”

Together with the German virtual reality company NeXR, the Swedish textile trading company H&M is developing a “digital changing room”, the prototype of which should be ready for use this year. The innovation center H & Mbyond, based in Berlin, acts as a cooperation partner on the side of H&M.

In the “digital changing room”, customers should be able to try on items of clothing virtually – on themselves and at home: To do this, however, you have to have been to a real H&M store at least once. This is where the three-dimensional image of your own body is created. Customers should then “be scanned in selected stores and receive their personal avatar, an exact digital copy. With the help of an app, suitable styles can be tried on on one’s own avatar in order to consolidate the purchase decision, ”says a press release from NeXR. NeXR brings the in-house 3D photogrammetry scanner to the cooperation between the companies.

App recommendations for iOS and Android:

No more waiting in front of the locker room?

Image: NeXR

It is still unclear in how many stores it will be possible to have a 3D avatar created this year.

It is foreseeable that an app for trying on could not only be useful on the sofa at home: once changing rooms are full again after the pandemic has subsided, the application could also be of help in the store itself to narrow down the selection or to make direct decisions. Speaking of restrictions: H&M should also hope that the virtual try-on will reduce the number of returns for online orders.