Human Height & Weight Chart

Rob Cockerham is a very funny dedicated man. One of his most striking work-in-progress can be found here on Cockeyed.com. It's called the Photographic Height/Weight Chart.

The idea is simple and deep: people submit a head to toe photo of themselves along with their height and weight. Then Rob puts it in the corresponding empty square on his chart. So far, 193 photos have been placed on the chart, both men and women together.

Here's how it work: 

Height increases from bottom to top, from 4 ft 10 in. to 6 ft 8 in., each row counting for one more inch.

Weight increases from left to right, from 90 lbs to 380 lbs, each column standing for 10-lbs increment.

The diagonal pattern forming in the center of the chart is also to be found in a BMI chart. The Body Mass Index is defined as the individual's body weight divided by the square of his or her height.

Overlaying BMI lines over Rob's chart gives you this picture below. The leftmost line is BMI = 18 and the next one right to it is BMI = 25. Anyone in between these two lines has a healthy weight, according to insurers science. The next lines from left to right are BMI = 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55.

It should come as no surprise that more people will found themselves in the 18-25 range than on any other area of the chart. Rob's sample obeys the same rules of ramdomness found in any poll or public survey. Unless there is something very special no one knows about about sending a photo of oneself over the web, all kinds of people should be willing to participate without skewing the stats intentionally.

This bar chart shows how many submissions Rob got for each 5-BMI unit range. This is close to the normal weight distribution in the US population. One has to remember that Rob counts only one submission for each square in his chart. While he must be receiving several submissions for the most frequent height/weight combinations, he's keeping only one for display.

When all squares will be filled in, the chart will somehow flatten and this will be skewed stats. Counting all real submissions should rather tend toward showing the normal distribution.

One final note:

To get a BMI of 55, one has to be something like 4' 10" and 380 lbs. No one of that size has participated in Rob's experiment yet but it's live since last year only.

There is plenty of empty squares left in the chart just waiting for volunteers. I guess Rob is still taking entries this year too so if you feel like it, just take a photo of yourself and send him an e-mail.
Here's the instructions about how to do it.

The MVM Look Creator Gets Improved

Ever wonder how a fashion look might really look like on you? The My Virtual Model Look Creator allows you to try on looks on a model of your own. You simply select your body shape, height, weight, hairstyle and color, and you can now shop visually.

We all know that people have their own shopping habits: some would shop for items from their favorite brands and others would shop for looks they want to achieve. The MVM Fashion Community gives you both and then more. Now you can shop by visual style.

Need new outfit ideas? MVM stands for self-expression. Design your own looks or browse the ever-growing collection of members' creations. Fashion is there for everyone to share. Just dare to try it on.

The MVM Community is a friendly meeting place for women and shoppers. People get to know each others by sharing fashion advices directed at their virtual models. A great tool for would-be fashion consultants!

Other sites featuring a style editor, outfit builder, or styleboard cannot show personalized models at all. MVM members will soon be able to refine their search for all looks created using a model similar to their own. Searching by body type, shape and other features such as skin tone, size, age group, etc. is sure to increase relevance, usefulness and fun.

Stay tuned!

Louise Guay at the Club e-Luxe Summit 2009, Paris

Strategies for Luxury Website Design, e-Merchandising & e-Customization

Last June, Louise Guay and Gregory Saumier-Finch presented My Virtual Model to the luxury industry leaders at the Ritz Hotel, Paris. The Club e-Luxe Summit is held each year since 2007 by Uché Okonkwo, Luxe Corp.

Luxe.TV Interviews - Click to play

"As the creator of My Virtual Model, the 3-D visual merchandising application that enables the re-creation of the real-self in the virtual space, Louise's presentation was filled with her passion of visionary invention that transform everyone into an online star.

Louise took the audience on a journey of virtual self discovery by demonstrating how to create a personalized avatar, which enables users to try on products ranging from apparel, shoes, bags and jewellery as well as to test as many "looks" as one wishes. She also introduced My Virtual Model fashion community and its role in shaping the collective experiences of online users who are increasingly being exposed to 3D virtual interactions. The power of the online community through engagement and sharing of content prior to making purchases was also underlined.

Her proposition for luxury brands was that the online shopping experience should be fun and a celebration of the luxury brand through unique personalized experiences online."

Source: Luxe Corp Summit Book 2009

Raving Reviews of My Virtual Model

Did you ever try Google Books? A search for "My Virtual Model" returns some 150 citations. I selected these four recent books which look pretty interesting.

Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers, by Bridget Brennan, Crown Business, 2009

"The website Sears.com does the zoom function one better through its "My Virtual Model" feature. The site allows shoppers to input their height, weight, and personal characteristics--even a photo of themselves--to create their own animated online model to try on clothing. It also offers the same feature for home fashions section of the site, enabling shoppers to click and paste everything from furniture to paint colors in images of rooms. It's brilliant and totally unexpected."

Designing Web Interfaces: Principles and Patterns for Rich Interactions, by Bill Scott, Theresa Neil, O'Reilly Media, 2009

"Showing a close-up of a camera on an electronics site is a common technique. But what sets a Live Preview apart from a simple preview is its interactive nature.

Lands' End uses a tool called My Virtual Model to bring Live Previews to clothes shopping. It is based on the premise that if you can show what the clothes will look like on the shoppers, they will be happier with their purchases. While virtual models can only come so close to reality, users can personalize the model with their height, weight, body shape, and so on. Then when they select shirts, pants, and shoes, their virtual model will appear dressed with the items."

Electronic Commerce, by Gary Schneider, Course Technology, 2008

"About 15 percent of visitors to the site use the virtual model and, on average, dress the model 40 times during a visit. Lands' End has found that the dollar amount of orders placed by customers who use the virtual model is about 10 percent larger than other orders. The Canadian company that developed this Web site feature, My Virtual Model, has sold the technology to a number of other clothing retailers."

Chocolates on the pillow aren't enough: reinventing the customer experience, by Jonathan M. Tisch, Karl Weber, Wiley, 2007

"To be effective, technology must be subservient to human ends. The software and web site features used by Lands' End to develop custom clothing designs look simple and may even seem a little hokey. (Does it really matter that My Virtual Model has hair the same length, color, and curliness as mine?) But they help customers take psychological ownership of their clothes even before they order them, providing a sense of figurative comfort that matches the literal comfort we enjoy in well-fitting clothes."

Bing and My Virtual Model Visual Search

Bing Visual Search is making the news! For us at MVM, seeing the words "Visual Search" marketed by Microsoft means that the idea is catching on. Bing tells everyone what My Virtual Model believes since a long time. Searching is visual, like in "looking for".

People asked us what's the difference between Bing and My Virtual Model Visual Search. At this time, it’s important to note that differences may be less relevant than goals and objectives.

My Virtual Model devoted 10 years of research in online fashion marketing and we draw some interesting conclusions about visual search. Like text-based search, a visual search solution must provide a way to enter queries and do something with the results. What really makes them two separate engines, though, is that people don't expect visual search to yield the same thing as keyword search engines. If they were the same, why switch to the new gizmo?

Text-based search can easily find pictures using keywords. Visual search uses key images to find matching attributes. The key image concept is what makes MVM Visual Search so easy to use. It fills the gap between experts and novices, following the WYSIWYG rule. To use My Virtual Model Visual Search, people do not have to know about keywords and attributes. They just pick and choose what they like to see.

For text-based search, it is assumed that people know how to read and write, so that's probably what they want to do with the results. If they are searching for an image, they want to see it, right? Wrong. There's a second part to this story.

Delivering pictures to users is not enough. People ought to be able to do things with them. A true visual search solution must provide a graphic interface to use the results. Basic image search would only display results on web pages and provide links to follow. Visual Search extends from 2D to 3D space where users can organize things visually and see how they fit together. Like words, foods or clothes, images take new flavors from their neighbors. Mixing and matching them while searching for the next missing thing is what makes MVM Visual Search a complete user experience.

While developing our 3D shopping engine for apparel retailers, My Virtual Model came across the issue of visual search quite naturally. But rather than adding "visual" in front of "search", we found ourselves with an overwhelming wealth of "visuals" in need of a state-of-the-art "search". Fortunately, MVM staff comprises a few fashion experts and patternmakers mastering the field. They provided the knowledge necessary to build the MVM Key Image Pictionary.

Then the mix-and-match issue came up: how to allow 2D pictures to share the same 3D space as My Virtual Model. And there, we were fortunate again to borrow our solution from Louise Guay's seminal Ph.D. thesis, "The Pocket Museum" (1986) where she described the multimedia experience as collage in a social communication environment. I think people should know how fortunate we are.

Back to Microsoft and Bing. It becomes obvious now why traditional search engines have so much trouble delivering a great shopping experience to users. Don't take me wrong, this situation may change very soon. Search engines are focusing on advertising revenues, leaving the shopping experience to retailers. In the not so far future, successful online retailers will be focusing more on publishing accurate and timely product feeds, leaving the experience part to vertical shopping engines. Shoppers are already expecting search engines to provide that kind of service. And every retailer knows that traffic is not born from their brand alone but mostly from these search engines.

So search engines who want to grow their share of advertising revenues should prepare to hire taxonomists and user experience specialists. Merchandisers need visual shopping engines that deliver highly qualified customers passed the revolving doors, right in front of their products.

Find Looks by Style

People coming to the My Virtual Model Community will now find new features allowing them to search looks created by other members. Interested in wrap tops or halter dresses? Select this garment style then see outfits featuring it, try it on yourself and create a look of your own.

With an ever growing look collection for all women and seasons, My Virtual Model Community offers an instant glance at fashion trends.

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Tell Your Retailer About MVM

You can help My Virtual Model to get more retailers participating in our program by writing to their Online Customer Service.

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3D Collection is Growing

Thanks to MVM new Quick 3D editor, producing 3D garments to try on on your model is faster than before. In the MVM Community, people can now vote for items and have them flagged for production so they will come out in 3D. Want to take a look? Come and see for yourself

Real-time Quick 3D Editor Demo

MVM made the technology breakthough everyone was waiting for. Now any garment in the world can be tried on. Quick 3D reduces by 100x the time it takes to produce a 3D garment.

Our online demo lets you try your hand at mapping a 2D garment photo onto a 3D model.

Try Quick 3D Editor Demo >>

How it works

The editor creates a 3D garment from a photo and allows you to preview it.

• Select a picture to load from the left-hand side garment samples.
• Remove extra pixels with the Eraser tools.
• Position the body part selectors over the 2D photo.
• Rotate and scale the parts to make for best adjustment.

In the 3D Preview pane, you can rotate the 3D garment to see how it looks from the sides.

Here is a video of a person using the Quick 3D Editor in real-time.

Weight Loss Visualisation

One of the great surprises that came with the first release of My Virtual Model in 1998 is how fast people discovered how to use it for weight loss visualisation. You can now find thousands of personal pages, blogs, forums and online communities using MVM for free.

And we love it as much as users seem to love MVM!

Lise The Loser’s Weblog: "Found something pretty fun - a virtual weight loss simulator from Prevention. Just plug in your current weight and your goal weight and you have a mini-you... now and at your ideal weight."
Virtual Weight Loss Simulator

JAY75REY's Blog: "I've seen other virtual model images on Spark People so I got to My Virtual Model's website and made one for me. I really like it because it helps me visualize the changes that have already occurred due to my weight loss. I feel better and know my clothes fit better, but it's nice to see a "before and after"."
Fun with My Virtual Model

eHow: "A visual aid can really help with a goal. Now there is a website that will allow you to enhance your weight loss plan by creating virtual person."
How to Create a Virtual Person for Weight Loss Plans

WHYY.org: "One of the culprits quoted in America’s struggle with expanding waist lines is "too much screen time" - time spent online or playing computer games. But researchers are observing that the computer can be a helpful tool in weight loss."
Health & Science: Technology and weight loss

Suite101.com: "My Virtual Model is a site where you can create a model by inputting data to change the features to look as much like you as possible. You can specify hair color; choose a hair style that is similar to yours, eye color, height, weight, body shape and more."
Visualize Yourself Thin: Picture Your Weight Loss Goal to Stay Motivated

ThatsFit: "If you're like me and hate to have you're picture taken, My Virtual Model is another option for people who want a glimpse of their future, fitter selves."
Picture Yourself Thin - Virtual Models as Weight Loss Motivators

CalorieLab: "Users say the virtual models aren’t perfect, but there are a lot of variables you can tinker with to make them quite similar to your own body shape."
My Virtual Model shows the diet ‘after,’ before

Sandy Carter on Customization

In this video, Sandy talks about going to market socially and using customized experiences such as My Virtual Model to deeply engage your customers.

Visit Sandy Carter's Blog for further tips about Social Media.

Shop.org 2009 Strategy and Innovation Forum

Feb. 2-4, Louise Guay, Jean-François St-Arnaud and Chantal Desrosiers demoed MVM's new offering at Shop.org 2009 Strategy and Innovation Forum. Our 3D Visual Search and My Virtual Model Community seem right on target as demonstrated by Ellen Davis' post on Shop.org Blog, "On the EXPO Floor":

"I spent quite a bit of time at last night’s networking dinner speaking with Jean-François St-Arnaud, one of the founders of My Virtual Model, which attempts to help retailers get customers over the hurdle of buying apparel online. The concept allows customers to build an avatar with their measurements and customize features like hair and eye color so that people can virtually "try on" clothing. In addition to helping customers put together outfits and get an understanding of what clothing would look like on them, the platform features a community where people can rate and comment on others’ looks, in addition to sharing their own styles.

Don’t take my word on how cool this is: check out the retail "dressing rooms" using My Virtual Model on websites like H&M, Sears and MSN Shopping. In addition to making people feel more comfortable with the idea of buying apparel online, I imagine that a platform like this could lower return rates as well."

Ok, if you don't want to take Ellen's word, you may take these:

The Technology Starlet: "My Virtual Model is the best virtual dressing room I found so far. You can find this interactive web app anywhere."
Virtual Dressing Rooms... Have They Gotten Any Better?

Momentary Lull: "One of the pleasures - and main selling point - when shopping for clothes is the ability to try things on, stroke the fabrics and have a reality check in the changing room. You can’t do that online but stores like sears.com try to fill this gap by letting you create a virtual model that looks like you. You can dress it and undress it at will and get a sense of how these crazy colors suit you."
Shoppertainment: 5 ways to have fun while shopping online

3DWalkthroughs: "My Virtual Model is one of the few companies that have really nailed it with regards to creating an application with real business value."
My Virtual Model - 3D Virtual Commerce Hit’s it’s Stride

Digital Vinyl: "It’s definately the best shopping avatar I’ve seen."
Style Avatars - H&M rocks online retail

Second Life Pros: "My Virtual Model is a concrete, and in my opinion very good, example of how you can try to make business on virtual things."
My virtual model

YPulse: "If this is successful, other brands will soon be forced to rethink the way they sell clothing online."
Sears Introduces Online 3-D Shopping

Thank you all, folks. Spread the word.

Fun is Transforming Online Fashion Shopping

There’s no doubt that online fashion shopping coupled with social networking is gaining momentum on the Internet. Online shopping will even grow faster in coming years as Digital Kids replace Boomers on the marketplace.

As John Palfrey and Urs Gasser say in "Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives" (Basic Books, 2008):

"The first generation of "Digital Natives" - children who were born into and raised in the digital world - are coming of age, and soon our world will be reshaped in their image. Our economy, our politics, our culture and even the shape of our family life will be forever transformed."

Already popular with teens and young fashionistas, social shopping strongly appeals to a wider market of professional women, working moms, special sizes and seasonal shoppers going for casual and workplace clothes, swimsuits, outerwear, party dresses, jeans, sportswear, sleepwear, lingerie, etc.

Beth Cherry posted this plea on her blog (October 12, 2008):

"Dear All Clothing Stores in the World,

Could you please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top, engage with My Virtual Model? Right now, you can only really play with Landsend, H&M, Sears, and a few others. I stayed up way past my bedtime tonight dressing my blue-eyed pony-tail wearing model, but I PROMISE this is the way I want to shop online: (1) it’s fun, (2) I "try on" things I would never try on in the store because it is fast, (3) I can store the data (outfits) for future reference (or for when I go into the store to try on an outfit for real) and share with my girlfriends. The more stories that participate, the more I can build outfits without running from store to store. It reminds me of that Fashion Plates toy from when I was a kid, except my model actually has hips as wide as my own. She needs to get on an exercise bike.

Regards,

Beth"

What we have learned from MVM users is that there’s never enough clothing, brands, styles, colors or accessories to curb any appetite. That’s because sameness is boring; the end of fashion is boring; having your cake and not eating it is boring.

The truth is: Fashion is Fun!

Google Insight for Search: "Shop by Outfit"

Google Insights for Search is a little-known online tool available from Google Labs. Its purpose is to let marketers and researchers peek into Google's query database for trends such as rising keywords by category, product seasonality or geographic distribution. The database provides only a subset of all online queries submitted to Google but this sample is sufficient to capture what's going on while allowing for decent performance.

The following chart shows how the use of the word "Outfit" grew in shopper queries from Jan. 2004 to Feb. 2009, relative to all searches in the Shopping >> Apparel category.

"Outfit" in category Shopping >> Apparel

As one would expect, Apparel Shopping (black) peaks in December each year. Searches for "Outfit" (blue) are remarkedly popular in October, and rising year after year. Although the trend is clear, the October peak may betray the presence of "Halloween outfit" in the sample. A closer look at the last 12 months (2008-2009) should help us here.

"Halloween outfit" in category Shopping > Apparel

"Halloween outfit" (red) has indeed a flattening effects on the whole Apparel category. Let's get more specific by searching for "Shop by outfit" (blue) in 2008-2009 instead.

"Shop by outfit" in category Shopping >> Apparel

This time, the chart shows that "Shop by outfit" (blue) is really rising amongst apparel shoppers. Google Insight for Search cannot tell exactly why people are looking for what they are looking for but as a market research tool, it can undoubtedly help anyone to improve her market insight by trial and error.

My Virtual Model Community Launches in Beta

Since last December, the MVM.com website is hosting a Social Shopping Community where people can create outfit collages around their 3D virtual model and share their looks with other members.

By the end of January, members had published over 15,000 looks. They commented each other’s looks and found their way to Shopping.com, our shopping partner.

As the Community keeps evolving, user groups will form by style, affinity, region, city, age, activities, and thanks to MVM’s unique personalization features, even by shape and body type.

Shopping by looks created by people brings together the best of all micro-experiences, unbelievable user endorsement and ratings, reliable cross-selling, color and style mix-and-match, fashion help you can trust, and most of all: a sense of belonging that is found only in your neighboring shopping mall.

Listen to what users are saying:

Style Feedback

• This look is really great!! I love the fact that you chose that type of stockings, instead of pantyhose ; )
• Cute! Completely stylish, this look incorporates a vintage grudge feel with a modern, rocker-esque edge.
• Love the color block look. Very stylish. Bag goes well with dress.
• Shoes don't go w/ outfit....
• hmm.. how about adding cardigan or trenchcoat?

Color Match

• I'm not really sure how the red and orange and grey go together, but you probably know more than I. It's cute.
• I love love love! purple is one of my favorite colours and since i like jeans a lot... this is an excelent outfit!
• this shining white is best combined with yellow gold, gives the white royally brightness ;))))
• The blue stripes make this outfit look fresh. And it compliment your eyes. Cute.
• ooohhh... that outfit is so pretty, like how you put the pinks together

Peer Persuasion

• cant believe i did this lol! so... should i go for this look in real life everyone?? lmao.
• ohh i simply adore your style ! good job ! :)
• You wear this dress uniquely!
• i wish i could be your size
• Very sporty and fun. I love the colors you mix and match together. What a wonderful fun and entertaining sight this is.

What these excerpts fail to show is that people are talking about a visual representation of themselves or others wearing a virtual outfit. All store owners know first-hand that customers can really turn a whole store upside down by the end of every single business day. The brick-and-mortar shopping experience does not only incur expensive costs of maintenance but the salability of inventory items is quickly reduced as well. Getting to know what you want to buy before going to the store can really help store owners as well as shoppers.

MVM 3D Visual Search Goes "Beyond Google"

How do people search for clothing? It depends of who you are, how you want to be, what you have in mind. The same question makes people hate shopping: How do I know what I want?

"My Virtual Model provides a way to search, shop, and buy with your model, which goes beyond Google. Searching evolves from text to 3D. The customer dresses up her model with the styles she is looking for, just as if she were with her own personal shopper. Any search engine gives the results by matching real sellable items with the customer's query. This enables a discovery of products by personal style."

The New Language of Marketing 2.0 by Sandy Carter, IBM Press, 2008.

Thanks Sandy. "Beyond Google", you say? I really like to quote you on this.

Personalization is not just another fad. It’s the way you choose to surf the Web. We all do it. Today’s young adults had a very different schooling than baby-boomers. During the 80’s and 90’s, new interactive methods focusing on process rather than content were introduced in primary schools. People learned how to find answers fitting their questions. These skills prepared them for the Internet Age where new content is available each day that wasn’t there the day before.

One of these interactive learning methods is called Storyline:

"Together, learner and teacher create a scenario through visualisation; the making of collages, three-dimensional models and pictures employing a variety of art and craft techniques. (...) The teacher’s role is mainly that of a facilitator."

The Storyline Method (from Wikipedia)

Lots of us know that learning has to be fun to be effective, and merchandisers know that about shopping since the Ice Age.

My Virtual Model 3D Visual Search works by helping people to find things the way they’re used to find them, visually. And they love it!

By the end of Q4-2008, MVM installed two Visual Search public pilots on Sears.com and MSN Shopping to demonstrate ROI in both retail and portal contexts. As metrics belong to our partners, we cannot say more about this for now but I will update you about our own pilot in my next post.

Consumer Reports "Buying Clothes Online" Survey

Last December, Consumer Reports released a survey rating 39 apparel shopping Web sites:

“There were no real dogs among the 39 clothiers we've rated. Standouts, including L.L.Bean, Zappos, and Lands' End, tended to provide superior clothing quality, the most accurate descriptions and sizing information, an informative Web site, and an easy way to order and return items. (…) Other pluses include virtual models that let you "try on" merchandise, sizing guides, 360-degree and zoom views, and buyer reviews.”

Buying Clothes Online - Consumer Reports Magazine (Dec. 2008)

Experts weigh in on top shopping Web sites - Watch the Video on ABC7 (Los Angeles)

Who doesn’t want to be reviewed in Consumer Reports?

Since 1998, MVM and Lands’ End have teamed together to bring virtual modeling to men and women. Searching for “My Virtual Model” in Google Books returns more than a 100 citations in online marketing reviews, studies and textbooks. With such a blazing trail, there’s no doubt that competitors are coming at us so we’ve decided to outrun them and reposition our technology with MVM 3D Visual Search.