Screenme- An interactive approach to shopping.

Team Branson presents:

2013
EIRINI KOLOMVREZOU
KONSTANTINOS VASSILIOU
RAJATHA GANGADHARAPRASAD
RAKESH VARUDU
SUJITH KUMAR ANAND
[ScreenMe]
In concise, we are developing an idea where the market need is unmet and offering “ScreenMe”,
assistance in shopping which combines state-of-art-technologies to provide an ample and
innovative solution for advertisements, differentiating in “chaotic/too-much informational/busy”
malls. This idea promised a very good business opportunity because it comes first in the market.
Market analysis points towards enormous user acceptance with increasing forecast in growth.
The business model is proposed to secure the earnings with a subscription-based revenue
stream, while providing superior value to end users and customers. Finally, the necessary
partners along with potential risks are discussed.

Team Branson 30-Nov-13

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CONTENTS
1. Introduction ................................................................................................2
2. Concept
2.1 Idea Generation .................................................................................3
2.2 Technology ........................................................................................3
3. Opportunity Recognition
3.1 Trends ...............................................................................................4
3.2 Customer Space ................................................................................4
3.3 Market Space.....................................................................................7
4. Implementation
4.1 Partners and Allies...........................................................................10
4.2 Risks................................................................................................10
4.3 Business Model................................................................................11
References....................................................................................................14
Appendix A ....................................................................................................15
Appendix B ....................................................................................................16


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SCREENME
AN INTERACTIVE APPROACH TO SHOPPING
1 INTRODUCTION
Augmented Reality (AR) is the vision of a physical (indirect, live or direct), real-world environment
whose component is augmented by computer-generated sensory inputs such as sound, video,
graphics or GPS data [1]. Early attempts in using augmented reality in the advertising business
have been released by Domino’s AR billboards in the UK that allow users to order straight from
the billboard with their smartphone, while waiting for the bus or walking down the street []. During
previous years, the augmented reality market for embedded devices in United States alone was
predicted to be $350 million by the end of 2014, from $6 million in 2008 [2]. The idea of having
augmented reality in clothing shops have been growing in the last years, with working prototypes
[3]. The retailing industry has remained unchanged for the past few decades, except for a few
modifications that resulted in technical developments, like online shopping and the involvement of
barcode scanners [4]. So we provide our solution “ScreenMe”, an augmented reality screen which
could increase shop sales, promote advertisement though innovation and provide a fascinating
shopping experience for end users. The “ScreenMe” screens are placed in the store with a body
length screen that projects the person standing in front of it, simulating a mirror, and overlaps
different outfits to the person’s body to get an idea on how these clothes would look like if the
person was wearing them. These screens offer motion driven interaction options like swiping a
hand in the air for navigating the items of clothing showed in the screen, or “grabbing” the air to
select a menu item.


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2 CONCEPT
2.1 IDEA GENERATION
The idea emerged after a long brainstorming session, which ended in generating many innovative
solutions but only one could be pursued. However, ScreenMe has a market where little research
has been done and no solution has been presented (i.e., first to the market) []. In our solution, we
propose an elite mix of state-of-art-technologies which can be affordable and flexible. Our
solutions will enable end users to personalize their 3D model, allowing them to try a variety of
combination of clothes in less time than they would have spent with traditional ways (i.e., trial
room). Additionally, our solution can be used in public places, acting as an interactive billboard to
attract more users for our customers.
2.2 TECHNOLOGY
Interactive Screen: A high resolution body-length screen will be used to display the 3D model of
the customer, trying different proposed outfits. The customer will have the ability to interact with
the screen by direct manipulation (no touch), and touch.
Primeview 3D sensor: By using infrared technology, sensor captures a 3D model of the subjects .
With the integrated camera, the texture is captured, resulting in a realistic representation.
Computer System: We will use a powerful computer system to render the images and serve the
users’ requests.


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3 OPPORTUNITY RECOGNITION
3.1 TRENDS
The global apparel retail industry in 2011 reached a value of
$1.1 trillion, and is expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2016
[Neverblue Fashion Performance Network].The average
percentage of gross sales spent on advertising in 2011 in the
clothing category was 8.4 percent for women and 3.5 percent for
men, according to business research experts [Predicting the Advertising Budget for..].
Even though the market of augmented and virtual reality is new,
we can see a big potential in it. As the market will grow, many
categories of application will incorporate augmented reality
features; particularly in retail, travel, and gaming application.The
growth of the augmented reality applications market is expected
to be exponential with the revenue growth from $181.25 million in
2011 to $5,155.92 million by 2016, at a compounded annual
growth rate of 95.35% from 2011 to 2016 [2011-2016]. By the end of 2013 3.6% of retail
customers will use this technology, generating $45.09 million (£27.6 million) in revenues (Fig. 2).
This figure is expected to reach £344.9 million by the end of the following year [Analysis:
Predicting the future of retail technology].
3.2 CUSTOMER SPACE
3.2.1 TARGET CUSTOMERS
We categorize our customers into two entities. The clothing retailers (we call them customers),
who have a need for alternative and interactive advertisement of their products and end users,
the consumers, who want to experience the joy of shopping, without having to try all the clothes
they want to buy.
End User Analysis
In order to discover if there is a need for such a product we conducted market research among
customers. The surveys were held online and included 131 answers. According to our research,
the average customer visits a clothing retail store once a month (39%) or less (53%), spending
between 30 minutes to 2 hours (76%) of trying out clothes and shopping.


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How frequently do you visit clothing stores?
How much time do you usually spent?
Half of the customers (54%) feel that time is limiting their ability to try and buy clothes, while 55%
face difficulties in finding the right sizes.
Is time a constraint for you?
Do you feel it is difficult to find the right sizes?
The vast majority of the end users is open to recommendations, which come mainly from friends
(64%) and staff in the store (21%). One tenth of the customers rely on fashion magazines (10%)
for recommendations, while 5% take recommendations from other sources, such as family
members or online sources.
Do you take recommendations on what clothing suits you?
Who do you take recommendations from?
One concerning finding was that consumers are not influenced by the displays on shop windows.
79 percent answered that they are not influenced by the shop windows. Even though retailers
showcase their best selling products on shop windows, users are not influenced by them, mainly
because what looks good in a slim mannequin does not necessarily look good on the average
person.


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Do suggestions on shop windows influence you on your decision?
Our solution solves these problems by displaying on a screen, the 3D model of the actual
consumer, wearing realistic 3D models of the products. The responses to our new innovative
technology were very warm. More than 70% of the end users argued that by using our product,
their overall shopping experience would improve.
If you could see a 3D model of you trying out new outfits, would that improve your shopping
experience?
Niche Analysis
We can divide the apparel retail industry into segments, based on price, merchandise and
geographical areas [Tomorrow’s clothing retail: sectors, markets and routes – forecasts to 2016].
Based on the price, retailers are segmented into luxury, mass and value segments. Luxury
segment provides high price, high quality products (Gucci, Luxottica, Versace, Yves Saint
Laurent) and is targeting high income customers. They spend huge amounts of money in
advertising diversify from the other segments. Mass market retailers (H&M, Massimo Dutti,
Bershka, Oysho, Pull and Bear, Stradivarius, Zara) have a different business model. They deliver
products which reach as much audience as possible aiming for high sales and low prices.They do
not rely on marketing and advertising, but in the word of mouth. Value segment delivers budget
price, value for money solutions, by cutting down costs [retail @ the speed of fashion].
We are mainly targeting luxury clothing retailers, enterprises that are willing to pay to diversify
from others. Due to the cost of implementation and installation, we assume that small and
medium size enterprises will not be able to access this technology, at least at the early stages.
Mass market retailers could be our secondary targets, if we provide cost effective means of
advertisement.
To backup our hypothesis, we approached luxury clothing retailer managers in the area of
Stockholm. The results are very promising, as 85% of them are willing to invest in our product.


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Given these results, we strongly feel that more than 80% of the enterprises are willing to spend
money on the installations that could increase their profit.
3.3 MARKET SPACE
3.3.1 HOW IS SHOPPING DONE TODAY?
So far, customers are familiar only with the traditional way of shopping experience, which
includes attractive outfits that look great on the mannequins, long queues outside the dressing
rooms, and boring static advertisements on billboards and magazines; attributes that have
increased e-commerce and e-marketing through social media platforms. Our proposition aims to
bring the customer back to the store and enhancing their shopping experience, by providing
personalised mode to each customer’s body type, allows more than one person to try out outfits
thanks to multi-figure detection and transforms passive advertising into interactive gaming, where
the customer becomes the model.
3.3.2 CHANNELS
As in every new business, the primary approach is the first barrier to overcome. We will start by
displaying our solution on social media and pitching in front of potential customers but mainly we
will focus on direct communication and personal interaction. Our main goal is to be able to
expand our partners network through recommendations, which will provide a more sustainable
social activity for our company.
3.3.3 PRESENT AND FUTURE COMPETITION
We are entering a market that is yet at a large extent untouched []. Attempts have been made to
bring the experience of real fitting rooms into people’s homes, via websites such as SmartFit [] or
Glamstorm []. But these companies are limited to having the customer input his/her specifications
(size, height, bust, waist, hips and/or arm) and providing suggestions on the style of outfits and/or
sizes. Others use a static representation of the outfit on a two dimensional model, created by the
specifications the user has inserted to the system. An interesting feature is given by Fits.me [],
which enables the customer to choose what kind of style he/she wants to view, by separating the
dress in three sections; bust, waist and hips.


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With the expanding use of XBOX [] and the Kinect sensor [], certain applications have emerged
that create a mirror effect between the customer and the screen. The simplest of all, which
presents is mentioned solely for the sake of thorough market research, is the Web Social
Shopper (WSS) [], with which the customer can place clothes on his/her “reflection”. What is
closer to our value proposition, is offered by two different companies; Swivel [] and the Virtual
Dressing Room []. Both products use an application much similar to Fitnect [], which allows the
customer have a real time virtual representation of themselves, while trying different outfits. Using
air gestures, the user can go through different clothing and try them on instantly. In reality, it is a
much better implementation of WSS. What differentiates us from these companies, is that we
HAVE the technology to create a 3D representation of the customer, wearing a 3D model of the
selected outfit, so that our customer can actually see those details that make the real shopping
experience unique as compared to online shopping.
Only two companies so far have succeeded in bringing people closer to that experience and for
that reason it would be wise to be considered as our biggest competitors. TryLive [] is using


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Augmented Reality to give a realistic representation of how home furniture would fit into the
house, as well as how accessories would look on customers. Efforts have been made to
implement apparel as well, but with no better luck than the aforementioned companies. Our idea
is more similar to the service provided by triMirror [], which provides a 3D representation of a fully
customised body, as well as a 3D representation of the outfit to see how it would actually look like
on the specified body. Contrary to the idea proposed by us, triMirror is a solution indicated mostly
for home use and it requires that the user inserts the measurements, rather than scanning the
customer’s body. Considering these two as our biggest competitors, we provide a competitor
analysis in the appendix section. With Kinect being already in the market, we should expect more
competitors arising in the field of 3D modelling, especially since its SDK (software development
kit) is an open source software and a tempting challenge for every keen developer. Even though
augmented reality is not fully developed at the moment [], the example of TryLive shows that it is
on our doorstep, and this is the kind of competition we should expect in the future. Other
companies as well are making progress in the field of augmented reality, with the most prominent
being Metaio (Germany) [], Wikitude (Austria) [] and Layar (The Netherlands) [], but have not yet
entered the world of marketing. They are to be considered potential competitors however.
3.3.4 THEIR WEAKNESS, OUR STRENGTH
The challenge we will face is competing with companies that have more expertise with this kind of
technology and that have established themselves in the market. The good news though, is that
the pioneers in augmented reality have no previous experience in implementing this technology in
advertising and that gives us a competitive advantage. Having analysed the market space upon
starting our enterprise brings us one step further and closer to the customer. Building on their
weakness, we will use the technology they offer to provide better shopping experience to our
customers’ customers, thus increasing their profit and establishing our name in the market.
Additionally, what we offer that is not offered by other companies is hardware installation. And
why should someone go for hardware when they can have similar results with software only?
Because of the quality of the results. Our installations provide top-quality and naturalistic feeling
when it comes to buyers’ representations, which exceeds by far the expectations of our retailers
and their customers. Plus, we do not charge for the installation and we guarantee top-quality
service.
3.3.6 BARRIERS TO ENTRY
Due to the fact that we are providing both software and hardware solution, we will have to invest
great amounts of money at the beginning of our venture. Since, we will be entering into the most
advanced and modern product segment, it is obvious that there will be many technical
challenges. We need a big investment initially to bring out the working prototype to field and then


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we can reach potential investors and venture capitalists to reach the huge market and for mass
production. On the software part, a lot of work has to be done, in order to implement realistic
models.
4 IMPLEMENTATION
4.1 PARTNERS AND ALLIES
Our key partners will be the product manufacturers, mainly hardware manufacturers of sensors[],
cameras[], and interactive screens[]. These key partners will be closely interacting with us in
describing the specifications, key features of hardware and support us in designing the best on-
screen interactive software integrating all the hardware components, databases and networking.
All the key partners will work closely with us on our product, gaining attention of our potential
customers and clients, and also they benefit by reaching new business and product development
segments through our business channels.
We will also target fashion magazines, fashion designers and emerging clothing brands to partner
and merchandise their products. We create opportunity to promote their business rapidly and to
reach their targeted customers in a distinctive and innovative method combining both fashion and
technology.
In the future, we would also like to partner with gaming companies to provide additional value and
services to our customers by designing gaming applications and try to promote the business of
our clients.
4.2 RISKS
Among all the risks involved like financial, technical, market and people, we see that market risk
as our primary concern. It is highly possible to develop our product with the technology available
today, but it takes a little longer to come up with a 3D model, as it involves different factors like
physical structure of a person, as well as elasticity of the fabric. So far, there is no such 3D model
for trying clothes available in the market and our survey results also show that people and
retailers are interested in using such a product, which is an advantage for us. But, once the
product is released, it is no longer a secret and it is highly possible to see a lot of followers in the
market. So, we would like to handle this by constantly being in touch with our customers and end
users to get their feedback and take it into consideration while innovating the product for further


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releases. Also, we believe that we can handle this by having a good Research and Development
team that includes experts from different domains like technology, business and fashion, which
will help us to think ahead of our competitors.
The next biggest risk is the financial risk, especially during its initial stage. We see that it is a very
challenging job to gain the confidence of investors to invest on our product as it is a complex
model. So, our idea is to start developing our product with our own investments and come up with
an initial prototype to imbibe confidence in investors that this product is viable.
There are certainly some technical risks involved with this product considering its complexity, but
since we have a good technical background, we believe that it is of lesser concern to us than the
other risks involved. Getting an intellectual property right may protect us to some extent. But, we
want to overcome the competition by constantly interacting with customers and end users and
take their inputs in improving our design of the product in further releases.
As of now, we don't see any risk of people as our team along with another two subject matter
experts is sufficient to come up with an initial prototype. But, once we start developing on top of
the prototype, we may need more experts to handle the managerial and technical concerns. We
believe that we can handle this risk by growing our network of professionals and angel investors
as our common objective is to grow our business. Also we believe that participating in start-up
events will help us find like-minded people willing to work with us and grow our business.
4.3 BUSINESS MODEL
4.3.1 VALUE PROPOSITION
End users
Our product offers a 3D model to screen a person with an outfit. It helps the end-users to try
different outfits virtually which gives them a fascinating and hassle free shopping experience as
our product will suggest them matching outfits based on their size and physical structure. Our
software will help the customers see the recommendations given by our product and other details
like nearest shop where those clothes are available in their mobile. End users can try out more
outfits than they do in the conventional method of trying out at the trial rooms. Though, the
product cannot predict the personal interests of a person, it helps end users try more outfits in a
short span of time than they do with the conventional method of trying out at the trial rooms.
Customers
We offer complete product package (Algorithms, Expertise, Technology, User friendly and
attractive user interface) along with installation and after sale maintenance and support.The
product will help retailers to increase their business as there is a higher probability of end user


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buying cloth as our product allows them to choose multiple alternatives in short time. This kind of
innovative shopping will eliminate display area within the stores thereby reducing the store space,
which in turn reduces the store rent, maintenance cost, and also human resources.
4.3.2 DELIVERY CHANNELS AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
At the early stage, our primary channel to reach customers is by personal interaction and demo,
and by showcasing our product in various exhibitions and tech fests thereby reaching more
customers on a single stage. We believe that organizations like EIT will help us promote our
product and reach different customers. We will use Social media and our website to advertise our
product to the customers.
Our plans for customer and end user relationships include maintenance, updates of more
interactive user interface, more fun games and contests, quicker suggestions and feedback
system (users will be able to report a fault on the fly). We will be able to answer questions of
customers and provide them with support. We will be more focused on end users feedback at
start-up stage to improve the product quality. Later, as we grow, we try to merge the customer
and end user feedback and suggestions in to a complete automated standalone service system.
4.3.3 KEY ACTIVITIES, RESOURCES AND PARTNERS
The main activities include developing and improving the 3D model, an attractive and user
friendly interface. We will provide installation and technical support for customers. We will be
more focused on end-users’ feedback so as to improve the product quality. Apart from these
activities, it is also important for us to grow our professional network and find the right persons
who can work with us and thus help us develop our business.
Our key resources include physical resources such as offices, integrating facilities, servers for
hosting our website and databases. Our business starts with our initial investment followed by
attracting funds from Angel investors and Venture capitalists. Human resources like software
developers and domain experts will play a vital role in the design and development of our product.
Since our product generates a 3D model of a person in a specific outfit, we need different
hardware resources which we cannot start building from the scratch. So, we partner with suitable
camera, sensor and interactive screen manufacturing companies to provide their products to us.
4.3.4 COST STRUCTURE AND REVENUE STREAMS
Our expenses include operational expenses like employees’ salaries, workspace rent and, to
some extent, marketing cost. Since we need to offer maintenance support to the customers post-
sale of our product, it incurs some cost to maintain a technical support team.


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We provide free installation on-site and we receive revenue from purchase, service and
maintenance. The product will be available to our customers on a subscription based model []
with part of the equipment cost paid upfront and an agreement for certain period of time.


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REFERENCES
[] Kipper, G., Rampolla, J., Augmented Reality, Syngress 2012
[] Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality Market by Technology, Sensors & Components,
Applications & Geography (2013 – 2018), Globe Newswire, July 2013.
[] Fitnect, Fitnect Interactive ©2013, http://www.fitnect.hu/
[] Fits.me Virtual Fitting Room, Fits.me, http://fits.me/
[] Glamstorm, Brainstorm Ltd ©2012-2013, http://glamstorm.com/en
[] Kinect, Microsoft ©2013, http://www.xbox.com/en-US/kinect
[] Layar, https://www.layar.com/
[] Metaio, http://www.metaio.com/
[] PrimeSense LTD ©2013, http://www.primesense.com/
[] Rappa, M. A., The Utility Business Model and the Future of Computing Services, IBM
SYSTEMS JOURNAL, VOL 43, NO 1, 2004,
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5386779
[] Smartfit, Styku ©2013, http://www.styku.com/business/smartfit/
[] Swivel, FaceCake©2013, http://www.facecake.com/swivel/
[] TryLive, Total Immersion ©2013, http://www.trylive.com/
[] triMirror ©2013, http://3d.trimirror.com/
[] Virtual Dressing Room, The Virtual People Technologies ©2013,
http://www.thevirtualpeople.com/
[] Web Social Shopper, Zugara, Inc. ©2013, http://webcamsocialshopper.com/
[] Wikitude GmbH ©2013, http://www.wikitude.com/
[] Xbox, Microsoft ©2013, http://www.xbox.com/


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APPENDIX A
BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS


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APPENDIX B

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS OF OUR MAIN COMPETITOR
DIRECTORY INFORMATION
Name of company Branson (ours) Total Immersion
Domain name (URL) branson.co.in
http://www.t-immersion.com/
http://www.trylive.com/
Mission statement or purpose
(either listed at the Web site or
in your own words)
Fascinating shopping
experience
product visualization and
virtual try-on solutions for
retail, e-commerce, mobile
commerce and brand
marketing
Company's physical location
(this can usually be found on
the "about us" page)
Stockholm
Europe (London, Paris,
Frankfurt, Madrid)
N America (Los Angeles) Asia
(Tokyo, Hong-Kong)
For-profit or non-profit? For profit For-profit
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Principal product or service ScreenMe
TryLive: 3D visualization of
glasses, jewelry & watches,
apparel and home solutions
Indication of pricing? monthly subscription
2000€/10000TryOn’s Eyewear
3000€/4000TryOn’s Home,
monthly/annual subscription
How similar is principal
product or service to yours?
Using 3D model virtualization
with live video stream
Uses 3D model representation
but for eyewear and home
solutions, not for clothing (as
ours)


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List as many additional
products and services as
possible
Interactive billboards, In-store
solutions, mobile apps (tba),
gamification (tba)
Eyewear: live, photo-, video
capture, compare feature,
mobile app, training
Home: mobile app, compare,
share, multiple views,
customisation
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Toll-free telephone number? 1800-ScreenMe Not available
"Contact Us" page easily
available?
Yes Yes
Guaranteed response time
listed?
24h 48h
FAQ page on website? Yes Yes
Privacy policy posted? Yes Yes
Credit/financing policy? Yes
Phones answered by staff
after hours and on weekends?
Yes No
Transportation available? Yes Not required
CUSTOMERS AND MARKETING
Primary target market (either
listed at the Web site or
surmised from their product
offerings and presentation)
Clothes’ retailers
Marketers, customers,
retailers, e-commerce players
Secondary target market Customers (end-users)
Reputation and image
projected by the company
Yet to be announced
Pioneer in AR, unique
solutions


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SOURCES OF COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE
In what ways does the
company exhibit competitive
advantage in terms of:
- Differentiation (distinguishing
itself in the marketplace)
Advanced Technology,
Hardware solution
Using advanced technology
- Innovation (creates a new
way of doing business)
First in the clothing retail
market
- Growth (selling into new
markets, introducing new
products)
Mobile application
Gamifigation
Expanding in apparel and
accessories 3D representation
- Alliance (partners with
others)
Primesence (3D sensors)
Samsung (Screens)
- Time (offers express
customer service or
convenient hours)
No No
- Quality (performance
measures available)
5-year guarantee

Screenme- An interactive approach to shopping.

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