Ever scanned the internet in pursuit of an outfit spotted on a stranger, with no clue where it may be from? Visa‘s new Blippar app may be your answer.
Card giant Visa has pioneered a new instant retail app that will change the way consumers shop when it comes to fashion and accessories.
Visa has launched a project in partnership with augmented reality app Blippar to enable iOS and Android smartphone users to take photos of passers-by to identify pieces of clothing that appeals to them. The app will then locate where the item is from and direct the user to the item on the retailer‘s ecommerce site.
A spokesman said it could “transform the way we purchase items” because “we will soon be able to whip out our phones to detect what a passer-by is wearing”.
The app is being trialled today and over the weekend by model Rafferty Law and radio DJ Nick Grimshaw at House of Holland‘s menswear show on London‘s Strand. Guests at the show will be able to scan outfits worn by models and buy them instantly, with next day delivery.
“Imagine a future where you can point your phone at a friend‘s new outfit, only for the app to recognise and source that outfit in your size, and give you the option of having it sent straight to your home” Visa Europe Collab Co-Founder Hendrik Kleinsmiede.
“The concept is always-on shopping, make the whole world shoppable” added Ranjiva Prasad, Visa Europe Collab‘s Principle Technical Architect.
“You can shop on the Tube, but of course you do need to have the permission of the person you are pointing the camera at.”
Visa added that it plans to make the app available to other retailers later this year.
The brand‘s Founder, British designer Henry Holland, said: “Being able to scan people‘s garments through Blippar and purchase them pretty much off their back is an amazing technological development and one I have dreamt of as a consumer and a fashion business owner.”
The firm noted that app users must ask the permission of the person before taking a photo.
