Amazon just bought a startup that models people's bodies in 3D
Amazon is about to get a little bit more familiar with the shapes of its customers' bodies.
The online shopping giant just acquired a startup called Body Labs that makes three-dimensional body-imaging software that can be used for everything from virtually trying on clothes to custom gaming avatars.
Body Labs claims it can extrapolate a 3D graphic of anyone's body from a single image using artificial intelligence.
TechCrunch first reported the news of the acquisition, which the startup later confirmed on its website. The price tag was between $70 million and $100 million, based on anonymous sources.
It's not clear at the moment exactly what Amazon plans to do with this technology, but it will likely involve fashion. Amazon has been pushing hard into this area, with an array of new private-label clothing lines, and it's possible Body Labs could let it offer more customizable apparel.
Amazon also continues to grapple with one of the biggest challenges for anyone selling clothes on the internet: It's hard for customers to know what they like without trying things on or seeing them in person. Return rates among online apparel sales are estimated to be as high as nearly one third.
Amazon has been doubling down on experimental ways to solve this dilemma in recent months. Earlier this year, it introduced a service that offered Prime members personal advice from style specialists. It's also filed a number of patents that suggest it has its sights set on augmented reality tools that would let people digitally superimpose watches or other fashion accessories on their bodies.
Body Labs suggests its technology can help bridge some of the disconnect by letting customers try on clothes in a virtual environment.
Amazon has also been trying to push into the world of gaming with a series of small acquisitions meant to supplement its video game studio arm. Body Labs' ability to create photorealistic gaming avatars could give it an intriguing leg up on that front.
Body Labs' marketing material claims its mission is to treat the human body as a digital "platform around which goods and services are designed, manufactured, bought and sold, recommended.”
The startup owes its DNA to research from Brown University and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems. It's raised more than $10 million through two investment rounds since its inception in 2013.
Topics Amazon
Patrick Kulp is a Business Reporter at Mashable. Patrick covers digital advertising, online retail and the future of work. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a degree in political science and economics, he previously worked at the Pacific Coast Business Times.
