Calabasas company demonstrates ‘virtual dressing room’ at CES

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Although the really big fashion news coming out of Las Vegas isn’t expected until next month’s MAGIC trade show, our Business section compatriot Andrea Chang reports in today’s Times on a Calabasas company’s demonstration of technology it hopes will revolutionize the dressing room experience.

Called Swivel, developed by FaceCake Marketing Technologies and shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, Chang reports it’s designed to allow customers to try on virtual outfits, receive recommendations on accessories and send images of final ‘looks’ to friends. Her description of the process reminds me of the futuristic kind of full-screen wall technology in the 2002 film ‘Minority Report’:

‘Select a category -- say, dresses -- by waving your hand over it. A lineup of gowns will appear on the right-hand panel; another wave of the arm selects the dress you want to try on and digitally overlays it over the live image of yourself.’

Technological advances in the clothes-shopping experience are all well and good -- especially with recommendations for the accessory challenged (I wonder if it gets commission), but Chang’s report made me wonder how Swivel might react if asked aloud the dreaded dressing room question I always think to myself: ‘Do I look fat in these pants?’

If it’s programmed to answer truthfully, I’d suggest reinforcing that virtual dressing room with a whole lot of un-virtual Kevlar.

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-- Adam Tschorn