AR and VR have been quite the game changer when it comes to how consumers interact with fashion products before they purchase them.
In an industry where the trial, fit, texture, and sheen are important aspects of creating the desired user experience, with a growing e-retail market, AR and VR have come in as relevant tools that have enhanced customer satisfaction by enabling a richer interaction between the prospective customer and the product. There are multiple benefits that companies gain by using AR VR in the fashion and retail sectors.
AR technology uses a camera to capture the customer and creates a realistic virtual representation of a product over the customer’s body in real-time. With AR try-on, shopping becomes far easier and more accessible for consumers.
Although these two words are used interchangeably, it’s important to know that they are not quite the same. Where AR enhances or augments real-world scenes, VR creates a completely immersive virtual environment. An easier way to grasp this would be to remember this thumb rule, while AR is 75% real and 25 % imaginary, VR is 75% virtual and 25% real. The two also differ in the tools needed to access the same; users aren’t necessarily required to use a headset when interacting with AR; on the other hand, VR necessitates using a headset. It goes without saying, then, that in AR, users are in touch with the real world while interacting with virtual objects near them, but in VR, the same is not true. The user feels immersed in a completely fictional world while interacting with VR.
AR technology lets consumers try garments, shoes, etc., on a 3D avatar without wearing the product. This way, augmented reality for clothing creates a personalized and engaging experience that benefits both customers and the brand.
The use of AR VR in fashion enables designers sitting across the world to get the precise measurements of clients and design garments accordingly. Technology almost plays the role of a fairy godmother, blessing the future of fashion globally.
Users make purchase decisions by experiencing the ‘look & feel’ of the products through augmented reality and virtual trial rooms. Brands recreate fabrics and models into true replicas of 3D garments using the software. Designers can alter digital garments, thereby reducing material and resource waste, by trying clothes on digital models and avatars to find the right match. They can offer design variations created on-demand digitally.
Reducing Carbon Foot Print
The fashion industry is a culprit to being the second highly polluting industry, preceded only by the oil industry. No wonder the environmental impact of fashion is a major cause of concern by scientists, environmentalists, and climate change experts.
Through the use of AR VR many fashion brands have replaced traditional fabric samples with digital equivalents, thereby reducing wastage during pattern making and sampling.
Higher customizability also means users have a better perspective and are empowered to try garments out digitally before hitting the ‘Buy’ option. Ideally, this would reduce the percentage of garments that are impulse buys and never make it to the consumer’s usable wardrobe post-purchase.
Another advantage of digital fashion is that it enables collaborative and creative work amongst designers, patternmakers, and manufacturers in different parts of the world. Consumers can choose sampling, try-outs, and digital showcase. Digital samples not only reduce manufacturing costs but also help reduce the carbon footprints involved in the process.
AR enabled runway experiences did garner a lot of attention of the fashion fraternity when Adwoa Aboah walked the runway in a collaboration between Central Saint Martins and internet service provider Three at London Fahsion Week 2020.
Metaverse is a phenomenon that combines the concept of social media with AR and VR. Its textbook definition is a virtual reality space where users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.
With e-commerce in fashion experiencing a boom in the Indian economy, with as much as 51 percent order volume growth in FY 2021 as compared to the previous financial year. According to Statista, US fashion e-commerce’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is expected to reach 14.2%CAGR between 2017 and 2025. The industry valuation is expected to reach $672.71 billion by 2023.
With the staggering growth in this market and optimistic projections, brands are following each other on the metaverse bandwagon. Nike, Zara, Gucci, Adidas, and Burberry are a few brands that have invested in creating a Metaverse Store. The idea is for consumers to buy branded clothes and accessories for their avatars. Famously, a virtual bag was sold on the Gucci Metaverse platform for $1500 when the price of the same tangible bag was much lower. One is forced to ask whether this could be a way to offset carbon footprint, routing consumption via the digital pathway.
Possible Cons of using AR-VR in Fashion
Since the consumption of AR and VR still relies on virtual 3D glasses, which might impact the adoption rate of the metaverse trend, especially in developing economies like India. Another downside is the addictive nature of AR VR, as ultimately, fashion relies heavily on tangible interaction between the consumers and the product itself.
With the use of social media, the dark side of violation of Data Privacy and Security has become common knowledge. The use of AR and VR, by its very nature, shall increase multifold access to individual data by private firms, which could add to the list of perils of Big Data.
(The authors are the Directors at LISAA School of Design Bangalore and CREO Valley School of Film and Television, and the views expressed in this article are their own)
