Mannequin, method and system for purchase, making and alteration of clothing

Abstract

A mannequin, method and system for facilitating making, altering and / or purchasing clothing by a user. The mannequin includes: a body that substantially resembles that of a prospective user of clothing and / or adornments, the body including an outer contour; a plurality of sensors attached to the body, for providing one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and / or adornments fitted to the mannequin; and a data transmission interface connected to the sensors operable to transmit the one or more quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and / or adornments.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a mannequin, method and system of facilitating the making, altering and / or purchase of clothing and / or adornments. In particular, the system and method involves use of a mannequin with sensors and / or mechanisms to provide one or more quantitative indicators of fit and / or comfort.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]When purchasing clothing using an on-line shopping system such as Amazon.com for example, items are typically chosen by their two dimensional appearance alone. In contrast, when purchasing clothing in retail outlets, items of clothing are displayed on mannequins. Unfortunately, mannequins used in most retail environments typically replicate the body shape of tall, slim and athletic male and female human beings. In the online environment, items are chosen from static images on web pages and typically, the size of clothing is selected from a drop down list that allows a choice of size according to present sizing pract...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention provides a mannequin that can be used to test the performance of clothing and accessories by measuring various factors such as pressure, air flow, body heat, fabric softness, clothing transparency, material stress, and clothing integrity. The mannequin has adjustable devices that can replicate the outer body contour of the user, allowing for a more accurate representation of how the clothing will fit on the user. The mannequin can also have a data transmission interface to transmit the quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and accessories to a user. The system also includes a presentation module to generate a graphical representation of the quantitative indications of performance of the clothing and accessories. The invention provides a method for making, altering, or purchasing clothing by a user by using the mannequin to test and improve the performance of the clothing.

Problems solved by technology

Unfortunately, mannequins used in most retail environments typically replicate the body shape of tall, slim and athletic male and female human beings.

Choosing clothing based on clothing size indicators alone often results in ill fitting or worse, plainly unsuitable and even unwearable clothing.

The waste of time, money and materials is not merely an economic problem but also a sustainability problem.

More often than not, when choosing clothing based on clothing size indicators, items which may have appeared desirable when viewed on mannequins and on-line images do not appear as desirable when the clothes are received and the customer has more time and greater resources to judge whether they have chosen the right article to suit their body shape and taste.

Both in the real world and on-line environments it is difficult for a customer to obtain a realistic view of how they would feel in an item of clothing and how the clothing will fit.

Factors such as comfort are virtually impossible to determine based upon viewing a mannequin and / or on-line images.

This problem is exacerbated by sizing variations, styles variations, variation in materials, etc. between countries, clothing manufacturers, and even in a manufacturer's own range of clothing.

Similar problems occur when making or altering clothing.

If the customer is not present during the process of making or altering the clothing, it is difficult to ensure that the clothing fits well and is comfortable.

Images