Be Smart

You know those shopping sites where you have the option to view clothing you're thinking of buying "on a model?" Of course, everything looks great on the model, but for all you know, she's six feet tall and weighs 90 pounds. Some online shopping sites have a virtual model feature where you pick a model based on body type (for instance, you might be given a choice of triangle, upside triangle, or hour glass - but what if you're more of a rectangle?), height, skin tone, hairstyle, etc. I've never found this kind of feature to be useful because the model never looks anything like me.

In Japan, Avielan Company has developed software for a virtual fitting room called Awaseba that lets you create an online model of the real you rather than a cartoonish avatar. The software application is sold to online merchants who provide the service for free to their customers. To use it, you simply upload a photograph of yourself in the designated pose (face forward, standing straight up, arms at your sides not too close to your body).