Amazon has and continues to be a corporate leader and innovator for customer-technology interaction. Evolved from a simple online shopping center to selling over 10 million Echo devices, Amazon continues to become more and more of a presence in our daily lives. With their acquisition of Body Labs, a software provider of human-aware artificial intelligence, they plan to further the Amazon experience even further by introducing full body 3D scanning in your home.
Potential 3D scanning applications
One possible application for Body Lab is the creation of custom fitting clothing. Using the highly accurate 3D body scans, companies can now design specific goods for each unique human body. For instance, after someone takes a full body scan, they can purchase clothes that fit them perfectly.This projection make sense, based on the fact that Amazon has boosted its own production of clothing. This would give Amazon a huge advantage in the clothing market. Custom clothing for specific individuals drastically reduces the amount of returns and eliminates the need for their Wardrobe “try before you buy” service.
Another possible opportunity for Amazon is the application of Body Lab’s technology to the gaming industry. With Amazon’s other acquisitions of gaming companies, this could lead to more accurate, photo-realistic gaming avatars, allowing for a more immersive gaming experience. This is just the tip of the iceberg for VR applications.
The possibilities continue with a combination of Amazon Echo and Alexa AI for a potential smart home service, and video calling. With their newly released device, the Amazon Look, this technology might be the perfect combination for all of these potential applications.
The primary challenge of these ambitious possibilities is the 3D scanning element. Body Labs has been using large range scanners to capture the exact 3D data and it wouldn’t be practical for a small, everyday Amazon device. But they also claim to be able to acquire the data from 2D photos (see previous blog post regarding CNN technologies).
This is a prime example of how 3D scanning technologies are continuing to shape how we experience the world around us. To learn more about the Amazon acquisition of Body Labs, click here. For more information regarding our 3D scanning services for your upcoming projects, click here.
