Magic Mirrors

Magic Mirrors

When it comes to using augmented reality for marketing purposes, nothing beats those magic mirror applications. After all, trying on a product, even virtually, goes a long way towards selling it (and surely it's better than those novelty AR gimmicks).
Previously I've covered Fraunhofer's magic mirror that lets you try on new shirts, and just last week we reported about virtually trying on diamond rings. Today I'm going to cover to exciting companies working in this field, Fittingox and Seac02.
One of the first and still most famous commercial applications of this kind was Ray-Ban's virtual mirror that enabled web surfers to check out how would they look with different sunglasses. The company behind the technology, FittingBox, has recently licensed the technology to British online glasses retailer Glasses Direct. Taming face detection algorithms, FittingBox can place a pair of glasses on you with an admirable accuracy. And it doesn't end with Ray-Ban and Glasses Direct. Vogue Eyewear also uses that technology and FittingBox is the owner of YouAreTheModel.com, where you can try on many other brands. Here's a short video showcasing the technology:



While FittingBox is somewhat a niche company specializing in virtual eyeglasses, Seac02 develops many AR applications (and I really need to cover some of them, sometime). Their Eligo engine simplifies the creation of magic mirrors application at point of sales. Seen here is HairArt, an application developed by Seac02 Asian distributor Hanoul Neotech, that lets the user try on wigs. Yes, we have seen such applications before, but it's always good to see another one:

Hair Augmented Reality from Seac02 srl on Vimeo.

Another application of this technology is this next magic mirror that lets you try on and even choose some tailor made shoes. This one still needs a marker to work out, but according to Seac02 they will be releasing a version in July that waives this requirement and detects your feet automatically.

Eligo, a virtual product experience from Seac02 srl on Vimeo.

(Glasses Direct via Not Just Reality)