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Adidas pop-up lets shoppers design a sweater using laser body scans and light sensors

Adidas pop-up lets shoppers design a sweater using laser body scans and light sensors

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A pop-up Adidas store in Berlin is offering customers the chance to design, create, and purchase a sweater in just a few hours, Reuters reports.

First, the shopper enters a dark room where a laser body scan will determine their correct sweater size. (You also have the option to choose from Adidas’ standard sizes if body scans aren’t your thing.) Then, light projections show off potential patterns for the sweater, while customers use hand gestures tracked by sensors in the room to tweak the pattern to their liking.

A sweater just for you — kind of

Design options are then sent to a computer screen where customers can play around with color combinations. The final result is completed by industrial knitting machines as well as a team of human knitters inside the store. After the sweater is washed and dried, customers can come back and pick it up. The whole process takes around four hours, according to Reuters.

Because of the placement of the light sensors, design options appear fairly limited — each sweater seems to end up looking like a blotchy, camouflaged thing no matter what. And for 200 euros (around $215), the price is pretty steep for a sweater that doesn’t actually look that unique. Still, it’s proof that apparel companies are open to the idea of customization, and as the technology advances, it could give consumers more unique apparel options — even if they aren’t friends with a high-end designer.

The store, called Knit For You, is a way for Adidas to get information on what customers actually want to buy, according to Reuters. For now, the company has no solid plans to expand the project outside of Berlin, but an Adidas spokesperson told Reuters that it’s a possibility in the future.