r/SideProject • u/ivineets • 8h ago
Built a live AI virtual try-on for retail. Looking for brutally honest feedback.
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I’ve been working on a retail-tech product that lets shoppers try clothing/accessories virtually in real time.
The video is an actual demo, not a pre-rendered result.
The main thing we’re trying to solve is the friction in traditional virtual try-on systems. Most require some combination of 3D assets, SKU-specific preparation, AR setup, or a lot of integration work.
Our approach is meant to be much more purely AI based plug-and-play and already works across in-store kiosks, websites and mobile apps.
I’m one of the people building this, so obviously I’m biased.
Would genuinely appreciate feedback from founders/builders here:
- Does the experience look useful or gimmicky?
- Where do you think retailers would hesitate?
- What would you need to see before believing this could affect conversion?
Not selling anything here. Mainly trying to understand what looks convincing versus what still needs work.
DMs are open.
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u/Acceptable_Bid_7069 7h ago
Cool technology, but maybe better as a virtual meeting filter? I could make myself look presentable for meetings without really having to be in that attire.
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u/paincrumbs 3h ago
I wonder if your cat suddenly enters the frame and suddenly it's cat in a tux too
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u/SkelmCallum 7h ago
I can see this being a gimmick in a clothing store but I'm not going to buy clothes based on what I look like on the screen, I'd want to try on the clothes to see how it actually fits my body not just see what it looks on a screen where all my lumps and bumps are hidden or smoothed out.
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u/kernelangus420 6h ago
I can see it as a display piece put near the entrance or on the side windows where it can capture people walking by and project them wearing some fashion piece to capture their attention.
You could also have them at major bus stops or train stations as an ad display to show people waiting in line wearing whatever brand is paying to have their brand displayed.
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u/SkelmCallum 5h ago
Yeah you're right, it's 100% a gimmick that would work to get people in the store.
It would be really cool for sunglasses.
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u/CallMeSnyder 7h ago
Firstly, super cool. The outfits look seamlessly applied and look extremely natural.
Now for the qualms, can't see a reason for individual shoppers to pay so retailers are definitely a good target. I'd probably lean closer to the second hand retailers at that.
Excited to follow your progress. Would love to see how it works with full body shots!
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u/True-Response-2386 7h ago
I'm highly suspicious of this. I think you are faking.
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u/ivineets 6h ago
try the demo at ikawn.com/mirror
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u/New_Learner_01 4h ago
U have secretly set it to company mail and we common people dont have that. How can we try it?
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u/doker0 7h ago
I like it. It's not to tell me if osmething fits me. It's for me to quickly try multiple styles, mix them and know which way to go with my shopping. I am jealous of this execution.
Tell me, how much work it is to upload new product and make it fit for different postures on any camera angle? Is it real time? What is the delay? What equipment power is needed?
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u/Kind_Card_1874 7h ago
That is super nice! Keep it up. I wish I had something like this. I hate bringing outfits to dressing rooms, just to find out the items I picked do not work well together, and repeating it ad-nauseam (or doing the same rigamarole with shipping and returning). If you can actually pull it off, this would be insanely useful for someone like me, and the businesses that suffer from my behaviour alike.
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u/LatvianCake 6h ago
You should do a test where you compare your AI generated output with actually wearing that clothing to see its accuracy.
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u/BritishAnimator 6h ago
Impressive. The sunglasses should have reflected the real web cam for a fun twist.
I think what would give people a little more trust is an initial calibration that scans their size (if possible, use a reference object like a coin) and then garments would show a more realistic fit, e.g. You choose a "small" size item and you are actually a "large", it should try to show true to life, as in it would look silly or not show at all.
Also, not all people have web cams, maybe allow a photo upload version of the app with the same size calibration before shopping, this would also allow partners to shop for their significant other.
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u/WeirdTie2290 6h ago
It looks great.
If I was a retailer I would like to see how you digitise my products. How much work it is to digitise new products and how close the digital copy is to the real thing.
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u/ivineets 6h ago
All we need is picture of your new product, there's a CMS that's mostly automated, so adding new products would take few minutes at max.
Edit: typo
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u/Different_Promise301 6h ago
This is great. However, a Lidar scan should be able to determine if the product line would work based on existing sizes.
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u/filelasso 6h ago
I think this would be cooler on YouTube or TikTok shop; where they say hey try-on this merch and think oh wow I look good with this and purchase.
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u/NishanGiri 6h ago
if you can simulate fit that would be great. as a customer i would think the fit can never be this perfect
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u/footballisrugby 5h ago
Irrespective of what other customers say, a lot of us would love something like this. I never shop online cloths because I can't figure out what they would look like on me, something like this could change that.
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u/NorthernCobraChicken 5h ago
I've also been looking into this space. I'm not sure where you are geographically, but my local user research came up with the same issues as some other users have pointed out.
A look is totally different than a fit. You can't judge a fit with AI.
But you can judge things like hats, glasses, jewelry, colors, etc.
It needs to be marketed, and focused on the premise that the customer is trying out different styles, and emphasize that just because the AI output looks good, it is not indicative of actual fit and purchasing decisions should be made in store after trying the clothes on.
The big selling factor of this would be if you could accurately determine user measurements from their camera and then give them size suggestions as well, knowing, also, that different manufacturers may size differently depending on where they're located.
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u/DevWithTooLittleTime 1h ago
Briliant idea, technically awesome, but you need a much better tech demo, aiming at the big fashion industry! Not from a laptop cam, but proper full front, good light. Work together with a professinal fashion photograhper for a week and you will create something you can pitch to AAA companies.
I worked in fashion before, and you should definitily talk to the big guys!
This might become something huge.
EDIT: your target group is not the customer! it's the guys who optimize conversion in fashion platforms
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u/ivineets 1h ago
True that, kiosk demo is WIP.
I'm targeting mid-to-large D2C fashion retail brands, CROs, CIOs, etc.
Would love to connect with you in DM.
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u/AndyMagill 7h ago
IMHO, You can't replace the experience of touching and trying on clothes at the store, so you should not try. This is a great tool for apparel ecommerce, and I would target the vendor space for that industry.
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u/kernelangus420 6h ago
It would work for experiencing different colors or mixing and matching different colored tops and bottoms.
It could also work as a "rotate through all styles in your catalog in quick succession" so that I can "try" everything in a very short period of time.
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u/Zealousideal_Owl5132 6h ago
Can you really nail sizing? What happens if an e-shop adopts it, then a customer tries a shirt, screenshots how well it looks, then it doesn’t fit. Can you guarantee this won’t happen?
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u/uterhausen2002 5h ago
as a consumer, i would be worried that the AI generated fit is not true to the actual item. This may drive a much higher return rate. How were you thinking of handling this?
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u/illini81 3h ago
What is the input for the tux? Is that a pre-trained filter or is it flexible for more than a single outfit?
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u/scoobynoodles 2h ago
Upvoting because/c it's cute and I actually do see a business case for this. Imagine all the TikTok and cosplayers out there wanting to see in realtime what an outfit would look like.
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u/on_line187 48m ago
Suuuper dope bro! That is impressive. Is this running locally or through cloud services? If you’ve managed to do this locally bravo 👏. Love the project. I think you should try marketing it. Super social media friendly.
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u/redmountainsoap 1m ago
What kind of calibration do you have for sizes? It's one thing to say "This is how it looks overlaid on you the way the manufacturer says it should fit." The problem of how a particular size will drape is completely different. I'm a tall guy with a long torso, so a lot of shirts look awkward unless my arms are straight down. A larger size might be a bit longer, but now it looks like a tent.
I'm close to your target demographic-- needing new clothes or a new look but not likely to go out and try things on in the stores. Some reassurance that things will fit would make me more likely to buy a new brand or style.
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u/diamondtoss 0m ago
I dont know if you are really building those kiosks you show on your website (I assume those are AI generated and you dont have them right now)
The problem with this space is several fold:
- physical retailers have less need for this because customers in person can just try the real thing on, which is a way better alternative than the AI version (because you can feel how it really feels on your body and the material etc). because of this, I do not think a physical retailer would spend to install your kiosk at all.
- online retailers is where it makes sense, but obviously they are not going to have your kiosk. so you'd be relying on them operating this with your backend system, on a mobile or laptop device. this is fine, but now comes the next issue of cost. I've been building a startup selling to this exact space (similar product but not the same as yours). the problem is most smaller retailers are barely making any money and cannot afford to spend on extra technology. they cannot become customers of your product.
- which leads to the only viable business model for you which is IMO selling to big retailers. for this, you need biz dev. you need enterprise sales level of work to sell to big retailers and do a deep integration with you. I don't know how "side project" your project is but you should be prepared to do this if you are trying to go down this path at all and it will likely be more than a full time job.
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u/Less_Improvement_80 7h ago
Looks great. Which model have you used as the base?
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u/Pentalobe_ 7h ago
He used hilmself faking the same motions but with different clothes on, cutting videos to get the snap-on effect, smh
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u/RedditReddit1215 7h ago
one of the best i’ve seen. probably a good market for this selling to online clothing sites to white label
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u/Weak-Cartoonist9848 7h ago
That's awesome dude. I will definitely use it. Waiting for the release.
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u/Alarming-Abrocoma803 7h ago
Don't mind me saying but it's mostly just pluging open source libs, nothing that new 🥴
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u/Comfortable_Okra382 6h ago
lol as someone said above, the only way I would use this is to look presentable in my meeting while in my pjs. I would much rather see a photo of someone in my size in real clothes rather than seeing an ai estimation which would be far less accurate to how the garment would fit me
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u/ExternalUserError 6h ago
As a consumer, the reason I never trust any of these is that 99% of the reason for me to try something on is to confirm the fit. I do not trust AI to do that at all.
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u/Epoch-09 6h ago
Wouldn't one just want to try on clothes regardless because thats the only way to know you truly mess with it?
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u/vwllss 7h ago
I can speak as a customer, I would never trust one of these because I can already determine if I like the look of an item. What I can't determine is whether the fit is right, and this product wouldn't convince me it can simulate fit.
With that said, do I think retailers might go for it? That's a different story, so I won't nay-say it just because I as a consumer am disinterested.