My exploration is focused on technology that takes  local independent creative Global and Brings the best Global talent local is presently at  a crucial stage! In 2012  we open it beyond teh core Group of designers... with a a Business of Independent  design eductional program,  a product  development component an offline marketing strategy and online Video enable commerce platformwe are seeing  results evn in teh early development stage!! We're  creating a cluster where they can be discovered.

Sure we need to CONVINCE  independents  to collaborate and advocate as a community, Tough but still   that's the EASY  part! b Getting the Tech developers to respect the   INPUT of the createive user is even TOUGHER! 

I  have bet for the last  seven yea s that designers and others can use the video  and in particular  teh webcam and technology to create their own "Economic Stimulus-  Louis Narcisee of Pharaonicorp is mastering the use of social Media to generate online sales doubling earnings each  quater! So yes it's working! 

I am seeing amazing and postive results! 

We finally have designers engaging with  the webcam and we have them  exploring storytelling at www.Bkfff.com and soon will be connecting  products within their presentations to sales outlets... we have a lot of support from the tech  community... after the fact!  Note to self get the  tech  and creative community together to solve the  problems! 

Next  week it's testing live one on one and group presentations technologies that are  using the webcam!   

One designer from St Lucia is way ahead of the  pack,  designing  her studio to maximize impact of technology!  We've solved a lot I explored, from a simple online sketch solution, accessible via a screen that can be shared!

 So yes it's possible. Yet like their larger  commercial counterparts they have one challenge...  That of FIT

well two  if we count access..most of these companies are focused onhetting  business from huge  corporations! It's why my constituets love Google... They can Use teh technology! the data they contribute is a small payoff! 

Designers in our sector specialize in FIT!  They have a Lot to offer!  It's a matter of pride! They cannot afford chargeback or returns; so fit has to  be on point!  Which means they need to make "bespoke' or  "Off-rack" clothing that  FITS!  Truth be told, the Webcam may solve this particular commerce problems for the  offline retailers also!

Check any Closet...  

Clothing lines that Fit is a huge issue... it's the proverbial "Hole" that's sinking the garment  industry!  Its enough of an issue to faciliattae a thriving  repair sector among local dressmakers and cleaners and a huge financial burden to many!

Three things had me focusing on this issue today 

1. PhotcaHackday NY is around the corner:-  
2. The designers I work with are on their way to integrating the webcam into their sales and operational strategy!
3. This  article on Upcload brought to my attention by a member of FashionCamp and fellow fashion tech advocate ViK 

A look at  Upcload seems a simple easy  solution and according to the article very accurate... so  finally a solution... or is it!  I can understand it's use in the custom clothing  sector... the genuine bespoke tailoring  sector;  most online "custom clothiers' simply customize  the nearest commercial "blocks"!  Overtime I can see these numbers shaping  those very blocks! 

Building patterns or block from scratch using these numbers would be great!  I have doubts that this is the solution.

I've been concerned with FIT  since the Early  1990's on the Upper East  side revealed the dire need to address this particulayly in the  female clothing sector!  I started looking  and  discovered this "3D Scanning and modeling technology designed to bring the power ofphotogrammetry, "while reviewing Augmented Reality first in 2007  and looked at it again in 2009!

So the Businessweek "Webcam Measurements for Buying Clothes Online", struck a cord..  First up  I'd  challenge  Industry insiders who claim in the article  that 

“Fit isn’t a matter of what objectively fits you but what you like and are comfortable in ”

They may have spent a tad bit too much time in the "research Room"!  Fit is much more that "taste:- What you  like and comfort:- what you are comfortable in"  Measurement is a Huge part of FIT and current measurements being used to create Patterns and as such clothing are NOT  Accurate for today's populace... 

So that CUT what ultimately decides how a garment  sits on the body is affected and so too  comfort!  I'll pith my  custom/bespoke designers against large retailers coughing up 3d fit and patterns based on  inaccurate numbers  anyday! 

Now as for  "how an item looks on someone" —

Few retail sales clerk can  do that in person, expecting 3D Technology such as FIT.ME to do so is teh "Emperor has no clothes" that No one in the fashion industry wants to say!  It's something  consumers are discovering...  

In Boutiques we leave the mirror outside the dressing room... The reason, almost EVERY customer needs to  be taught how to  wear the garments so that it "looks great" on them ... and not every  person can do so!

Will a machine be able to  someday... Maybe, but there is no technology yet that can do THAT! 

However there are stylist and trained clothing specialist ... designers and sewers with real experience and skill in fitting . Some specialize in body types and the  true masters can fit across the board and the globe! 

The Premise to our online research in using tele-presence and video  technology revolves around developing solution with the  input of those "experts" in the  challenge one is trying to solve!

The average  tech developer does not... they seek to "disrupt" and as one retailer stated,   

"they come  promising to solve my  problem... and never asked me what  teh issue was in teh first  place!"

The design community s will welcome distance measuring  tools as much as the consumer, however they need accurate measurements and thus far  3D technology  at approximately $3000 Photomodeler  is outside their reach, then again the technology needs to be simple with user interfaces that "normals" can navigate...

Plug and play ... it's not there yet!

will I be able to  find a correct fit from my  Upcload reading ..  not if the Garment  are constructed with incorrect  measurement 

To date NOT ONE technology they can  passes that test!  

The first  reason;-  developers seldom interact  with  the communities they actually serve... the second the point at which that  technology is introduced into the ecosystem...  

Any true custom clothier  does not like or trust fact  that,

"people have to measure themselves.” 

Photogrammetry, especially if the system is virtual should eradicate "Human" tendency to  go for "vanity" numbers!  

Secondly  searching  databases will only work if the clothing was created from the numeric data  that you are using for search  ... in other words  we need to measure way more than "500 cluster in Germany" for this to work!  Across ethnicities even Geographies and culture body ratios vary! 

There is a need to measur populations... BEFORE 3D search becomes effective! 

Which brings me to PhotohackdayNY.  At last  Photohackday I obseerved a developer working with the webcam and the Kindle! It struck me then and has been on my mind since - but it was the  use by our St. Lucian designer that brought it home!   The ability to collect  measurements using the webcam should be that simple and our global local dressmakers  would provide a great opportunity to get this! 

I was actually  pulling that  contact number when Ii was sent upcload link...  so why not usue Upcload! I am discorveing that  need open access or coorporation  from  developers  to tweak their  technology!  having howevr had one too many of teh tech  i was depending on  sold to corporations who  simply  put it on a shelf... I  CANNOt take that chance!

Beyond this though their seems to  be opportunities for building  3d models  based on the  images taken... Then of course  I'd have to  wonder how Yahoo's  patent relating to a METHOD FOR SEARCHING FOR AND MARKETING FASHION GARMENTS ONLINE   will play! 

as a person who NEEDS this issue solved  as a designer, as a business and as a consumer 

BUSINESS WEEKS's  bottom line: "Retailers including The North Face plan to use UPcload’s webcam measurements to make shoppers comfortable buying online." 

Is NOT enough! This  placebo is costly ...  I see first hand the closets, waste and cost  to consumers!

For now though the quest should be to create a solution that allows for easy collection of that data from the general populations and secondly convincing  companies to build their stock around  that nore accurate data BEFORE consumers can start to search!