Kinect for Windows at Convergence of Style and Technology for New York Fashion Week

This year, Kinect for Windows gives Fashion Week in New York a high-tech boost by offering a new way to model the latest styles at retail. Swivel, a virtual dressing room that is featured at Bloomingdale's, helps you quickly see what clothes look like on you—without the drudgery of trying on multiple garments in the changing room.

Twenty Bloomingdale's stores across the United States are featuring Swivel this week— including outlets in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. This Kinect for Windows application was developed by FaceCake Marketing Technologies, Inc.

Also featured at Bloomingdale's during Fashion Week is a virtual version of a Microsoft Research project called The Printing Dress. This remarkable melding of fashion and technology is on display at Bloomingdale's 59th Street location in New York. The Printing Dress enables the wearer of the virtual dress to display messages via a projector inside the dress by typing on keys that are inlaid on the bodice. Normally, you wouldn't be able to try on such a fragile runway garment, but the Kinect-enabled technology makes it possible to see how haute couture looks on you.

Bloomingdale's has made early and ongoing investments in deploying Kinect for Windows gesture-based experiences at retail stores: they featured another Kinect for Windows solution last March at their Century City store in Los Angeles, just six weeks after the launch of the technology. That solution by Bodymetrics uses shoppers’ body measurements to help them find the best fitting jeans. The Bodymetrics body mapping technology is currently being used at the Bloomingdale’s store in Palo Alto, California.

"Merging fashion with technology is not just a current trend, but the wave of the future," said Bloomingdale's Senior Vice President of Marketing Frank Berman. "We recognize the melding of the two here at Bloomingdale's, and value our partnership with companies like Microsoft to bring exciting animation to our stores and website to enhance the experience for our shoppers."

Here's how Swivel works: the Kinect for Windows sensor detects your body and displays an image of you on the screen. Kinect provides both the customer's skeleton frame and 3-D depth data to the Swivel sizing and product display applications. Wave your hand to select a new outfit, and it is nearly instantly fitted to your form. Next, you can turn around and view the clothing from different angles. Finally, you can snap a picture of you dressed in your favorite ensemble and—by using a secure tablet—share it with friends over social networks.

Since Bloomingdale’s piloted the Swivel application last May, FaceCake has enhanced detection and identification so that the camera tracks the shopper (instead of forcing the shopper to move further for the camera) and improved detection of different-sized people so that it can display more accurately how the garment would look if fitted to the customer.

Swivel and Bodymetrics are only two examples of Kinect for Windows unleashing new experiences in fashion and retail. Others include:

• One of the participants in the recent Microsoft Accelerator for Kinect program, Styku, LLC, has also developed virtual fitting room software and body scanner technology powered by Kinect for Windows. 
• Mattel brought to life Barbie: The Dream Closet that makes it possible for anyone to try on clothes from 50 years of Barbie's wardrobe. 
• Kimetric , another Kinect Accelerator participant, uses Kinect for Windows sensors strategically placed throughout a store to gather useful data, helping a retailer to better understand consumer behavior.

With this recent wave of retail experiences powered by Kinect for Windows, we are starting to get a glimpse into the ways technology innovators and retailers will reimagine and transform the way we shop with new Kinect-enabled tools.

Kinect for Windows Team

Key Links

• Microsoft Kinect for Windows news and resources
• Next at Microsoft Blog: Microsoft and Bloomingdale’s at Fashion Week 
• Kinect for Windows Blog: Barbie Dream Closet
• Microsoft News Center Bloomindale’s Photo Slide Show
• The Microsoft Accelerator for Kinect

Comments

• Anonymous
  September 25, 2012
  Is there any chances to have tutorial regarding this project?

• Anonymous
  October 01, 2012
  Kinect is a wonderful sensor and is the future. In Argentina, we are a company that develop pure Kinect for Windows applications and games. Search Bin Motion. http://www.binmotion.com.ar

• Anonymous
  October 25, 2012
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  November 19, 2012
  I m working with Kinect.I m trying to overlay an image on a live video  using kinect in VC++.Not able to overlay image. Thanks in advance

• Anonymous
  January 13, 2013
  Is this project available? I'm doing some similar work on Kinect.