If you’ve ever attempted to try on clothes at H&M, you know the lines could be ridiculously long. Luckily, as the Chief Innovation Officer at H&M, I’d propose an innovation to make it a better organization by creating a computerized dressing room – imagine trying on clothes without having to take off the ones you’re already wearing! As someone who shops a little too frequently, I despise fitting rooms, but I despise returning items even more and this would be a way to eliminate both of these problems and be more efficient as well! What this dressing room will do is take a full 360 body scan of the individual that steps into it and create a hologram image in front of you. Then, you select the pre-selected clothing items from the store on the computer and it clothes your hologram with it – voila!
As no one is an engineer / computer science in our class, I’d leave everyone behind (sorry!) and instead lure some of the higher ups who are savvy in coding and holograms from Apple’s headquarters (hologram keyboard, anyone?) away to make this innovation a reality. This will open a new market for jobs related to computer science and engineering and will make shopping a more enjoyable experience for shoppers. In addition, it will decrease the number of inventory items that the company will have to write off as damaged.
John Stuart Mill would most approve of my proposed innovation because taking this action would create a much better experience for shoppers without any negative consequences, which goes along with his utilitarianism beliefs. It will be convenient and save shoppers time while also ensuring the pristine conditions of the garments that are being “tried” on – no deodorant stains, no rips or tears, no spilt coffee, etc. So…who’s ready to head to H&M? I am!
The World is Flat? 
Monaaaaaaaa, I love this idea. Can I have it? I’m not sure if you’ve thought seriously about this but I 100% believe that this will be a thing in the future. It reminds me of the virtual try on that some online stores have for things like sunglasses. Holographic tech is right around the corner. Great idea and fun writing.
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Haha, it’s yours! My accounting background doesn’t really give me the expertise to make it a thing, but I’m sure you can!
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This is legit. About as out-the-box as it comes, and I agree with West, you should try to claim it as intellectual property.
I’m not sure about the viability of the tech, and how close we are, so I will leave that to sharper minds, but I was wondering about the statement you made about “a much better experience for shoppers without any negative consequences.” I think I might push back a little on this, probably because I’m in MGMT 303 (the technological organization) right now. We often fall prey to the idea that new tech is always better, advancement is always better, usually because it makes us have to do less. Convenience, however, seems to be completely unrelated at times to a “better life” despite what we think. Autopilot makes unconfident and untested maintenance people out of airline pilots, GPS turns competent and skilled individuals with self-worth/autonomy into less mindful, and often less fulfilled, instruction followers who also have an increased risk of Alzheimer and dementia due to less activity in certain regions of the brain.
All that is simply to say, are we looking closely enough for those negative consequences with tech like this? Might behavioral studies show that hyper-consumerism would be encouraged if you don’t have to go through the bother of trying on a limited number (what, six at H&M?) of articles of clothing? Unfortunately, we often don’t know if we’re just trading one problem for another with innovations until after the fact.
Definitely true of social work like I talked about in my blog, so fee free to tear it to sheds – it should be easy compared to yours, which is actually one of the harder ones to see downsides to. Plus, I love holograms because of Star Wars so I’m biased.
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Blog within a blog, Joe… nice ^
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Haha, in retrospect that was probably a line that could be eliminated as I can’t possibly know whether or not there would be negative consequences. But I 100% agree with you in that advances in technology is not always better and I think I fall victim to associating one with the other. Go Star Wars!
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Mona, absolutely loved the idea. I don’t know what it is about this last blog but it has certainly inspired many people towards incredible ideas. Using holograms would be a great way to improve the fashion industry. One thing that I see problematic about holograms is that they do not simulate touch. Touch is an essential part in purchasing goods, specially in the fashion industry. It makes the buying experience more natural, pure.
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Thanks! This is a really good point – the way that certain materials feel and that clothes are made out of definitely can be a deal breaker for me when I am shopping!
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Great post Mona! Such an innovative and creative idea. I guess my one question/ concern surrounding a hologram dressing room would be how to make sure that the hologram is not invasive. After reading this I immediately thought of how controversial new body scans at the airport were, and while not quite the same thing, I know when it comes to these types of high tech devices, there is always potential invasion of privacy. However, I definitely love the idea and think that society is moving in this type of direction.
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Thanks Morgan – this is definitely a great point! I wonder if it will come to a point where people are willing to sacrifice some of their privacy in exchange for money or convenience in this case. One that comes to mind for me is AirBnB where people are willing to allow complete strangers into the privacy of their homes – for a price.
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I also love the idea of having a hologram that would show how the clothes would look on me. My one question is being able to know how the fit of the clothes feels. As a person that has troubles with finding clothes that fit my body, I would be worried that the clothes would seem like they fit well in the hologram but when I purchase them and try it at home, it wouldn’t fit. Other than that, I would love for this technology to be implemented at clothing stores.
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Great point – I’m not sure how exactly the hologram would measure the “fit” of clothes, and whether or not the technology will even be created in the future, but I definitely agree that loving how an outfit would look on you does not equate to loving how it fits.
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Does it have to be the dressing room? This technology with time, could be adopted for the home and online shopping will sort of merge with the physical aspects of a store. It could see the entire shopping industry turn on its head. Great idea, however.
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Haha, I think I personally enjoy walking around malls aimlessly for hours too much to get rid of it completely in my innovation, but I definitely think it would be possible as a means of revamping the entire shopping industry!
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I would wonder if people would be uneasy putting their precise measurements into a computer. Do those of us without perfect bodies WANT to see a 3d rendering?
Or, maybe it could help clothing makers better meet actual body types? I mean, skinny jeans ain’t gonna happen for me. Ever. Not even at my fighting weight.
But its an interesting concept.
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Great post Mona! It will certainly be interesting to see what we can do in the world of consumer shopping as we make advances in technology such as virtual reality and holograms. I know there are a few companies where you can try something like this, but it is very rudimentary. It will be interesting to see if something like your idea will happen, I hope it does because it seems like a really cool idea!
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