'Magic Mirror' Perfect Fit for Shoppers

Help could be at hand for exhausted women shopping for clothes in malls, often accompanied by grudging husbands.

A "magic mirror" that displays a 3-D picture of their measurements - for different outfits and accessories - is on sale.

The system comprises a scanning room with 16 sensors, a computer creating a 3-D visual human model based on the scanning results and photographs of the human face, and a large display screen.

The system makes suggestions by matching users and garments by size and skin tone. Users can change the clothes on their visual figures displayed on the screen by hitting a button on the screen.

It takes just seconds to scan the body and display the visual figure in the "magic mirror".

Model-building may take up to 15 minutes, depending on the Internet broadband width, with the server currently located in Belgium, said Li Hao, a sales representative in the 3-D division at Shanghai Yin Science & Technology Co, one of China's leading cutting-machine makers.

The product has been developed by Li's company, Belgian company DNA Interactif Fashion and US firm [TC]2.

Li's company is displaying the system at the designer service center at Guangzhou Textile Exchange Park in the Guangdong provincial capital.

The system can be updated as data is accumulated, such as ages, personal preferences and features specific to a region, Li said, adding that the company plans to relocate the server to China.

The Guangdong Association of Garment and Garment Article Industry is working with Li's company to place the system in public venues, such as shopping centers, to collect data.

It hopes this will help to upgrade the garment manufacturing industry in Guangdong, which is the largest in the country.

Ye Yili, deputy secretary- general of the association, said the system will help consumers to buy clothes, and garment makers, including online tailor-made clothing providers, to improve their production.

Association President Liu Yueping said the garment market has become increasingly subdivided, with more varieties in smaller batches in greater demand.

Tailor-made production for the mass market, involving developments such as remote purchasing and do-it-yourself design, can only be realized through new technology, he said.

The "magic mirror" system can also help garment makers to reduce their huge stocks by allowing them to showcase older designs no longer available in stores, Li said.