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USING TECHNOLOGY TO ACCELERATE POSITIVE CHANGE
AND SUSTAINABILITY IN THE APPAREL INDUSTRY
The Metaverse in Fashion
Jim Downing / CWIC 2022
VIRTUAL TRY-ONS OF GARMENTS
ENABLING NOVEL HUMAN FASHION
INTERACTIONS
eTryOn
EU H2020-funded project

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Virtual try on of clothes & outfits on a model with your body
shape.
MeModel Experience

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Virtual Sampling
Created without
physical samples
(but based on real
cutting patterns!)

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The eTryOn Project
Funded under the
European Commission
Horizon 2020
programme
New HFI
experiences
1. Creative
2. Social
3. Shopping
Modernize the way people create, consume
and experience fashion items (clothes) by
offering novel Human-Fashion-Interaction
(HFI) applications
https://etryon-h2020.eu/

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Consortium
Centre for Research &
Technology Hellas
(CERTH), Greece
Belgium
UK
UK
Switzerland
3D Avatar generation
from images on mobile
● 3D Avatars into 3D CAD and XR
platforms
● 3D garments into XR platforms
● Garment model optimisation and
ML development
● Building XR Apps
● Consumer preference
prediction
● Pilots and project oversight
● 3D CAD garments & development
● Planning & running user pilots
● Prediction of consumer
preference & marketing insights

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eTryOn VR Designer App
Come to the Metail /
eTryOn stand for a
demonstration!

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eTryOn VR Designer App - Implementation
CG avatar
Baked garment
animations from CAD
simulation (VStitcher)
Cutting patterns and
fabric representation
from Odlo’s product
development process

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Garment simulation / modelling is hard
● Creasing and draping is expensive to calculate, and difficult to approximate
well.
● Interactions between body and garment also computationally expensive to
model accurately
● The more you approximate, the more likely to need artistic input to find a
good approximation
Slow &
accurate
Fast &
approximate
High(ish) res Finite
Elements / particle
modelling
Texturing
Skinning
Skin-relative
particles
Low res particle
models

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Why is 3D & metaverse tech beneficial in the
supply chain?
Dematerialisation
of samples
Reduced
environmental
footprint
Remote & online
buying process
Scalability &
efficiency
Decreased time to
market
Better demand
prediction
Lower
overproduction

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eTryOn Magic Mirror App
● Augmented Try-On intended for e-commerce
● Deeper engagement in marketing and e-commerce
○ → more likely to buy things we’ll love and wear
○ → also hopefully fewer returns
● Developed in Unity / ARKit (iOS only)
○ Unity doesn’t yet have good cross platform
coverage for garment try on AR
○ ARKit (iOS) support is there, but not stellar
■ Body modelling
■ Body tracking
■ Skinned garments
● Ergonomics problem
○ If the camera is far enough away to see you…
○ …it’s too small to see well.
● Smart glasses + a mirror?

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Metail x Snap GHOST

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What’s needed to create commercial pull for
fashion AR marketing?
3D Garment AR
support
Strong Millenial &
Gen Z audience
Direct Response
Attribution
AR enabled ad units
Snapchat
Apple
Google
Meta
Unity
TikTok

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Metaverse in Fashion: Challenges &
Opportunities
● Massive social media & gaming industry
investment
● Increasing mobile compute power &
sensors
● Commercial success of AR advertising
in other sectors (e.g. furniture, make up)
● AR fashion experiences do seem to
drive engagement
– Novelty value only?
● Fidelity of & detail in fabric
representation
● Cost & effort in creating 3D content for
XR
● Adoption of 3D CAD not widespread &
only steady growth
● Computational cost of garment
draping
● No clear driver from user need
● Apple App Transparency Tracking
Opportunities Challenges