What you should know about Metail

Metail is a virtual fitting room that enables customers to generate a 3D photo-realistic model of themselves from two uploaded photos. Customers can then try on new clothes, see how they fit, create and share their looks. After customers make their model, they log in to their Metail profile and purchase their best clothes. Since the company was launched, more than 749,961 users have used Metail platform, allowing them to make informed decisions about garments before they buy online.

Metail was launched in 2008 by Founder and CEO Tom Adeyoola who wanted to assist his girlfriend look for well-fitting clothes she liked without taking a lot of time in shop changing rooms. Motivated by Professor Roberto Cipolla’s work at Cambridge University, the company has since filed patents, raised more than £2m in funding and acquired a highly skilled team devoted to solving the problem of looking for the right fit when shopping online.

Metail aim is to use the latest computer vision technology to enable customers to try attires on without leaving the comfort of their home. Before purchasing, shoppers are required to input their body measurement into the site. By doing that, they create a 3D model of themselves, complete with skin tone and hairstyle, so that they can try on various garments.

After we contacted Adeyoola for an interview, he divulged more about the origin of his computer vision technology. He narrated how the technology was actually developed by a Cambridge University professor to make the first live blackjack game in the world using card recognition. This technology is also used by Antony Gormley, a sculptor and creator of the Angel of North, to make 3D sculptures from 2D shapes.

The complexity of Metail technology is very amazing as it is able to detect the material of the clothes and visualize how it would fit your shape, with more than 94% accuracy. In addition, the level of data that can be collected from the platform makes the technology very interesting.

Adeyolla said: ‘What we’re trying to do is to produce a visual experience that  motivates users to  their body shape and size, and that set of data doesn’t currently exist; data that retailers lack  as part of  the process  of improving how they  make and sell clothes.

Retailers in the UK have made returning clothes very easy and consequently, return rates have increased considerably. Therefore, Adeyoola hopes that his company’s buying data on different sized clothes will help to ‘, increase basket size, increase conversion and reduce returns’

The technology is not exciting to every person. People with stores that are struggling to get customers through the door feel threatened by increased online sales.

The question that TechAnnouncer ask is: will customers want to use Metail platform to buy clothes? No doubt, it’s a fun platform that everybody will want to play around with. It will change how people shop online. With retailers such as Tesco and Warehouse having signed to use Metail on their sites, Adeyoola is convinced that consumer demand and habits will quickly change.