Welcome to Metail’s 3D online dressing room
Metail, which creates software for the fashion industry, is powering a virtual studio which enables clothes retailers to do fitments online.
The new technology will facilitate decision making, communication, collaboration and merchandising while also reducing the need for physical samples. Check it out here:
The St Andrew’s Street software developer has been working with Browzwear - a Singapore-based leader in 3D technology for the apparel industry with offices in Europe, Asia and the US - for three years. The new virtual dressing room emerged after Metail developed EcoShot, a plug-in for Browzwear’s VStitcher.
EcoShot’s realistic visualisations are made possible by combining VStitcher’s accurate simulation of garments and Metail’s pre-existing ‘Scanatars’. The Scanatars are digitised versions of human models, created using 3D body scans, photography and computer vision algorithms.
“We’re elated to incorporate Metail’s EcoShot technology into VStitcher and enable businesses to get more out of their investment in 3D,” said Joy Foo, strategic partnerships and solutions director of Browzwear.
“We also believe the amazing true-to-life visualisations made possible by the Scanatars will help more businesses realize the impact that incorporating 3D technology into their workflows can have on creativity, efficiency, and of course, revenue.”
The software could be a welcome development as the pandemic restricts face-to-face activity.
“When Covid-19 travel restrictions caused our global 360 Go-To-Market meeting to be switched to a digital event, EcoShot gave us the flexibility to show our 3D garments on real people,” said Bernd Sauer, apparel development director at PUMA, the sports brand. “EcoShot helped ensure that our go-to-market and business units chose to incorporate 3D garments into their virtual merchandise planning for the next season.”
Katharina Bobrowski, general manager featuring LIMITED, the virtual product development division of Otto International, said: “EcoShot images are even more convincing than regular 3D, as customers less distracted by avatars can better accept that this is what the garment will really look like in real life.
“Also great is that, because only approved ideas are turned into physical samples, we save a lot of time as well as the resources we’d otherwise use to make multiple samples for each individual garment.”
In addition to EcoShot’s value as a tool to improve communication and “sell” concepts to internal stakeholders, which speeds product development and time to market, EcoShot renderings can also be used in lieu of physical samples for merchandising, consumer testing and ecommerce. This capability became especially valuable to fashion businesses that have been challenged by the inability to produce and ship physical garment samples during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“At Metail we believe that technology, and especially 3D design tech, is fundamental to a more sustainable future for the fashion industry,” said Jim Downing, Metail CEO.
“We’re excited to work with partners like Browzwear to help brands and manufacturers forge ahead, using solutions like EcoShot.”
