Dartmouth, N.S., Canada-based Unique Solutions Design Ltd. — a developer of body fit solutions and
technologies — has begun a rollout in U.S. shopping malls of its Me-Ality™ apparel size-matching
booths. The new, free-of-charge service is intended to facilitate consumers’ shopping experiences
by helping them find apparel that will best fit them before they enter the dressing room; and to
help increase retailers’ sales and reduce returns.
Me-Ality — short for “measured reality” — utilizes 3-D body-scanning technology similar to
that used in airports, but instead of finding objects, it takes measurements of a shopper’s body.
Unique Solutions’ Virtual Fitting Room Bodyscanner™, said to be the only scanner in the world able
to measure the body while fully clothed, contains a vertical wand with 196 antennas that send and
receive safe, low-power radio waves. In just 10 seconds, the wand rotates around the body and
records more than 200,000 data points by bouncing these signals off the moisture in the skin,
capturing exact body measurements, which are then matched with sizing specifications of apparel
brands in the database. The kiosk prints a personalized shopping guide recommending the best items
and sizes to buy and where in the mall to purchase them. The entire process takes less than 10
minutes, Unique Solutions reports.
Shoppers may also create a Me-Ality online profile to receive free updated shopping guides as
new brands, styles and sizes are added to the database; and to be offered styles that may be found
online or at other retailer locations. Me-Ality currently provides size-matching for denim and
pants, and will be expanding to include all clothing in the near future, according to Unique
Solutions’ President and CEO Tanya Shaw.
The first Me-Ality booth debuted in September 2010 at the King of Prussia Mall in Montgomery,
Pa., the largest shopping mall in the United States; and the second recently opened at North Point
Mall in Alpharetta, Ga. Unique Solutions has received a $30 million investment from Toronto-based
Northwater Capital Management Inc.’s Intellectual Property Fund to support the company’s growth and
to fund the installation of more than 300 Me-Ality kiosks over the next two years in major malls in
Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago and Boston as well as cities in New Jersey, New York, Southern California
and elsewhere across the United States.
October 25, 2011
