Nike’s app will use augmented reality to determine your shoe size
Do you know your own shoe size? You might think you do, but there’s a good chance you’re walking around in shoes that aren’t actually a perfect fit. Nike thinks it can change that with a new addition to its smartphone app that leverages the power of augmented reality to perform a super-accurate scan of your feet, matching you with the ideal size, depending on the kind of shoe you’re shopping for.
In a new blog post, Nike calls out the current system of shoe sizing as “antiquated,” calling it “a gross simplification of a complex problem.” That’s where Nike Fit, the new sizing feature, comes in.
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Nike describes Nike Fit as “a new scanning solution that uses a proprietary combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and recommendation algorithms.”
That’s a whole bunch of flashy terms that don’t mean a whole lot to the average shoe shopper, but the gist of it is that the app will allow you to take a scan of your feet when you’re about to buy a pair of kicks. Nike Fit will be an option alongside the traditional sizing list, but the company is obviously promoting this as the ideal way to get the perfect fit.
“Using your smartphone’s camera, Nike Fit will scan your feet, collecting 13 data points mapping your foot morphology for both feet within a matter of seconds,” Nike explains. “This hyper-accurate scan of your unique foot dimension can then be stored in your NikePlus member profile and easily used for future shopping online and in-store.”
Your Nike Fit scan will be stored and can be accessed by the app whenever it needs to guide you to your perfect pair of new shoes. Perhaps most interesting, this new sizing system may actually change its size recommendation for you based on the kind of shoe you’re shopping for.
Nike says “different shoes are made with different performance intent,” meaning that you’ll probably want something like a running shoe to be a little bit tighter than the kind of everyday sneaker you wear in casual situations. The app handles all those decisions on the backend, and Nike seems pretty sure it knows exactly how to set you up with the size you need.
The feature isn’t available just yet but it should be available sometime in July in the U.S. and August in Europe.
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