Robot mannequin takes guesswork out of online fashion shopping

Monday, June 13, 2011 - 11:20 by Graham Miller

A new breed of mannequin developed in Estonia is being touted as the solution to the problem of choosing the right size clothes when you seek out fashion via shopping online.

The so-called FitBot has been created by retailer Fits.me and is available for both male and female body types. What makes this mannequin special is that it can be completely adjusted to make sure that it matches the body shape of different size brackets, allowing it to fill out clothing accurately and help consumers make proper judgements when they buy online.

Customers can go a step further and give the retailer their own measurements, which FitBot will be able to replicate precisely for an even greater degree of accuracy, although whether or not you would want to do this will depend on how precious you are about your figure.

Fits.me created FitBot to ensure that its virtual online fitting rooms were completely customisable, providing users with a much closer approximation of what they may look like when wearing the garments they are buying via safe shopping online.

It seems that the FitBot will not operate in real time but will instead have been pre-adjusted by the various partner retailers with a number of outfits so that instant access to detailed pictures will be available without any waiting period.

Of course like many mannequins the FitBot lacks a head or arms, so a little bit of imagination is needed, but its plated interior and various intelligent adjustments will mean that you can get a glance in the mirror and see how a jumper or dress hangs without actually having to go down to a high street store.

There is not yet any information as to whether this clever little development will make it to e-commerce sites in the UK, but hopefully it will appear here to aid indecisive shoppers.