Hong Kong-based TG3D Studio has piloted a body scanner in Sweden and the USA that provides a safer way to take shoppers’ measurements during the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The Scanatic 360 body scanner enables social-distancing protocols that are impossible in fashion retailers’ traditional process of taking measurements by hand. It does not require customers to grip onto any surface and has a completely handle-free design that lets consumers control the measurement app using their body movements, just like in the Xbox Kinect games.

The scanner can blend into any store environment, since the scanning room can double as a fitting room.

To ensure privacy, infra-red technology is used to scan the human body; no photographs or videos are captured at any point in the scanning process.

Last month at its Götgatan store in central Stockholm, Weekday, a member of the H&M Group, kicked off with the design concept, Body Scan Jeans, which are custom made and produced on demand.

In three seconds, the scanner takes a complete scan of the body. Then, within 30 seconds, the Scanatic body service processes the 3D data into a virtual avatar comprising 100,000 data points. This technology enables Weekday to tailor a custom fit for each individual order, as if the jeans were woven directly around the customer’s body.

With a user-friendly, self-service software interface, users can then configure a unique design for their jeans on the spot, customising the fit, waist, leg, length, wash, thread colour and trims.

Weekday’s introduction of Body Scan Jeans follows the launch in September of Fit:Match’s studio at Oakbrook Center, an outdoor mall outside Chicago, which is also powered by TG3D Studio. This contactless shopping experience invites shoppers to get 3D-measured, or fitched, using the scanner.

Within minutes, Fit:Match customers can start shopping online from a personalised apparel selection, seeing only styles available in sizes that will fit them beautifully. The studio in Oakbrook Center, a Brookfield Properties mall, has more than 50 brands including Under Armour, Express, Ted Baker, Nili Lotan, Paige and Good America. Fit:Match envisions a world in which customers will never again need to try on clothes or deal with returns, knowing that every item they purchase will be the right size.

“This pair of recent launches demonstrates TG3D Studio’s ability to delight consumers in both the on-demand and ready-to-wear apparel sectors,” said Rick Yu, chief marketing officer of TG3D Studio.

With headquarters in Hong Kong and R&D in Taipei, TG3D Studio serves fashion businesses around the world, with sales offices in Shanghai and Seoul.