With the new Fit technology, Nike is called a tech company – TechCrunch

In 1927, Charles Brannock, son of an owner of a shoe company in Syracuse, New York, invented the Brannock device. The five-scale steel measuring tool was the most effective way to find a precise size in the United States.

Across the industry, 60% of consumers wear shoes of the wrong size. There is not only a difference between the different styles of shoes (high heels and leather boots), but the sizes can often differ from one brand to another within a type of shoe ( like the Adidas sneakers to Nike). sneakers) and even silhouetted silhouette in a singular brand.

For example, I owned Nike React Epic sneakers with Flyknit technology in size 10 for women. I have a Nike Nike Air Max 95 suede in a 9.5. All of my men's Air Jordan 1 are comfortably sized 8.5, but I have a pair of women in an 11 and my Air Jordan 4 in 8. However, my Nike Air Max 720 is definitely too small for a man. And all in the same brand.

In the 92 years since its introduction, the birth of the Internet and other technological advances that have changed society, the Brannock device has remained somewhat undisputed. Until now.

This summer, Nike will introduce Nike Fit, a foot analysis solution designed to find the perfect solution for every person. Conceptually, Nike Fit is between "why should we reinvent the wheel" and "we do not even need this wheel".

Nike Fit uses an exclusive combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and recommendation algorithms to find the solution that's right for you. With less than two millimeters accuracy on dozens of data points, the measurements are embedded in the machine learning model that integrates every detail of every Nike silhouette down to the materials used, lacing systems and other key aspects of adjustment. This is then combined with artificial intelligence capabilities to find out the wearer's personal adjustment preferences and their relationship to the population as a whole.

Users can find their size through the augmented reality feature in the Nike app or, soon, go to participating stores to use the technology. I've recently had the opportunity to do both.

Within the Nike app, I used the camera on my phone to capture an empty space where the floor meets the wall as a reference point, guiding the application ensuring a horizontal plane. I stood with my heels against the wall that I had captured as a point of reference and I pointed the camera at my feet as if to take a picture. Once my feet were properly aligned on the outline guide of the application, I simply pressed the button that looks like a picture.

In seconds, this action scans the feet and collects 13 data points, the best of 32 points that Nike is able to capture. Despite all the data collected, only the length and width measurements, expressed in millimeters, of each foot will be proposed to the users.

"Augmented reality is a new type of experience for many consumers and poses many challenges," said Josh Moore, vice president of design and user experience at Nike. "We have done a lot of experiments and created new features in our SNKRS app over the last few years, where we really learned a lot about the successful use of augmented reality. More specifically, we know that we must guide our users along the journey, at their own pace, so that they can understand as they go. "

"We're talking about phones with cameras measuring your feet," says Moore. "It's a new kind of experience where you're using your device, camera, 3D space around you and your body. There is no common UX model for this. "

The store experience differs in many ways. It was not enough to have state-of-the-art technology, it was also necessary to reduce friction in the in-store purchase process. The idea is to reduce the time spent by employees to come and go, to take sizes in the reserve, so that the time spent with customers is better and more efficient.

At the Retail Lab on Nike's campus, I was standing on a carpet while a Nike sales associate was scanning my feet with an iTouch handheld device. With the measurements taken (my right foot is 1 millimeter longer than my left foot, while my left foot is wider than one millimeter than my right foot), the partner can provide a range of sizes for me, including cases where my best shoe could fall into any shoe in the Nike catalog. Once the desired shoe is sought, the application will offer the most appropriate size for my measurements and this shoe. If this option is available, they will display this size and, in case of disbelief, they will also indicate the size you want to try.

Whether you use the app to find the right fit and make a purchase, or go to the store, your employees and customers can record the purchased size, as well as other personal preferences for the fit.

"Before a shoe arrives on the market, she will already be trained to the solution. But as the solution encompasses both machine learning and artificial intelligence, its accuracy is astonishing and even better, "he says. Michael Martin, Vice President of Nike Direct Products, Growth and Innovation.

With more data, Nike will not only be able to continually improve an individual's adjustment preferences, it will also learn the preferences of the people with respect to each specific model, thus providing insight into creating more tailored footwear. .

In development for just over 12 months, Nike Fit has been tested in three stores – one in Seattle, Dallas and Pasadena, CA – just six months after the acquisition of Israeli start-up Invertex, whose mission was to create body scans for better adaptation.

"Basically, at this point, Nike is a technology company. It's a technology company that builds on its historical strengths in shoe design, storytelling and inspiration, and is able to use them together to solve problems that no one else can solve. " said Martin. "We think that's probably our most important solution to date."

Although the shoes are designed for the moment, the technology created for Nike Fit has the potential to change the retail business in many ways. We can imagine that women can use technology to find the right bra size. This could also facilitate the purchase of denim. Individualism and inclusion having become marketing tools, custom fit appears as a natural step, but until now, there was no clear solution .

Nike Fit will be introduced in some stores in the United States and in the Nike app in early July 2019, and Europe will follow later during the summer.

Nike has always had a special place in the conversation with Apple when discussing branding and top-level storytelling. With the introduction of Nike Fit, Nike is doing it again.