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.