YNAP unveils Yoox Mirror AI-based avatar styling suite

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 11, 2018

Yoox Net-A-Porter is continuing to add new tech to its webstores offer and this week has unveiled “a unique styling suite to deliver [an] innovative shopping experience to customers worldwide” for its Yoox off-price store.

YooxMirror is a virtual styling suite available through its iOS app that’s powered by artificial intelligence and was developed in-house by the Yoox R&D team. It aims to “entertain customers while they express their personality, exploring the very best of the Yoox fashion offering in a new, interactive and engaging way.”

Customers can see how a look will suit them (or at least how it looks on an avatar, which is a big step forward from static product images), while being able to share their looks and gain immediate feedback before purchase. And they can save their favourite items directly into their wishlist, the Yoox DreamBox.

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The company said it “allows customers to embrace their inner stylist,” as they use the app to “mix and match products and styles.” 

It works by algorithms detecting visual elements such as colour, pattern, and shape within a product image, while “Deep Learning networks extract product attributes to select alternative items, which work best with each other,” we’re told. Virtual reality technology will then fit the selected items on a 3D model, “bringing them to life against evocative immersive backdrops.”

The human element comes into it when the company combines the AI “with the unrivalled knowledge and expertise of the Yoox merchandising team,” with the e-tailer saying that the development “represents the next stage in [its] exploration of Man & Machine synergies.”

The new feature will showcase 250 products per week and nine unique fashion themes, so it doesn’t cover the site’s entire inventory. Customers can select one of a number of avatars (called Daisy) that most closely match their own look, or upload their own picture. She’ll guide users around the interface and, “in a fashion first for a brand”, will “take over the Yoox Instagram account.”

Yoox president Paolo Mascio said: "Behind what might look like a playful app feature lies a complex technology: building upon the work of the Yoox merchandising team, the introduction represents an important move for us, offering our customers something personalised and memorable which is also a brand new way to explore the very best of Yoox. We are so excited by the potential of this initiative that we will not limit our avatar Daisy to the styling suite – taking over our IG she is going to become the personification of Yoox, allowing us an even more direct contact with our followers and customers.”