A shopping centre in Queensland will soon join the ranks of Topshop in the UK and the iconic Macy's in the USA when it unveils Australia's first virtual change room next month.
The concept, which capitalises on the power of augmented reality, will launch at Gold Coast fashion hub Robina Town Centre on March 15 and will be open for use by the general public during regular trading hours for a four-week period.
Believed to be an Australian shopping centre first, the virtual change room was created using innovative Kinect software; a system devised by Microsoft for the video gaming industry, which has now been applied to the fashion sphere.
Featuring two full-length virtual mirrors, shoppers can choose between 200 of the shopping centre’s latest looks, size up the 'virtual' garments on their body, receive information on stockists and prices, and print their shopping wish list at the wave of a hand.
The image recognition and motion tracking software also enables users to select a variety of fashion options in real-time, with the added practicality of filtering searches through retail stores, designs, trends and gender.
Robina Town Centre marketing manager Jessica Buckley said the concept, which has already been trialled with success overseas by fashion retailers such as Topshop in the UK and department store giant Macy’s in the USA, will introduce shoppers to a new, technologically advanced and convenient method to shop.
“Our vision at Robina Town Centre is to provide women and men of all ages with a one-stop shopping portal where elements from online shopping and virtual reality fuse to create the ultimate retail experience,” she said.
“The cooler months bring a fresh look to fashion, so it is timely that Robina Town Centre is introducing a new way to shop at the same time all the gorgeous new collections hit the stores.”
Robina Town Centre is home to many of Australia’s top designers, including labels stocked at Myer, David Jones and 350 speciality stores.