Most retailers have been focusing on improving their online presence and rethinking the shopping experience of customers on the internet. Some clothing retailers, however, have decided to rethink the in-store experience and have tried to leverage digital technologies to, again, increase the relevance of brick and mortar stores. Virtual mirrors have been introduced by chains such as Tommy Hilfiger to simplify the process for shoppers.

A shopper brings a piece of clothing in front of a mirror and scans the barcode. The system recognizes the item and overlays the captured image of the user with the item of clothing. The shopper is now shown his virtual appearance with the outfit, which adapts according to his movements. Outfit sizes, colors, and combinations can also be changed with the push of a button. The lighting of the dressing room can be adapted to allow the user to try each combination in different settings. Furthermore, the customer has the opportunity to access the complete inventory catalog of the stores, usually available only to online users. The technology also offers complimentary suggestions to each item, which could increase the customers’ willingness to engage in additional purchases.

The introduction of this technology comes as a response to the challenge that online shoppers face when evaluating the sizes of items.

Retailers can benefit in various ways. Primarily, damage to inventory is reduced as items are only taken out of stock when customers purchase each item. Secondly, stores can use vast amounts of customer data to predict sales based on the levels of engagement. This improves the company’s marketing capabilities as customers can be targeted more reliably.

In my opinion, this technology is a great addition to traditional retail stores as people still enjoy going into stores to be personally consulted and can physically try on each item. This technology, paired with a strong online presence can improve a company’s brand.

https://hackernoon.com/virtual-mirror-the-future-of-interaction-95755b0d3d60

Flying is great! You can get from one part of the world to another in a matter of hours. Through improvements in the efficiencies of airplanes, the cost of tickets has decreased and you can fly longer distances at once. Flying would be great if it weren’t for delays, queues, and inefficient processes. Not only does this pose an inconvenience for passengers, but it leaves a heavy toll on airlines. It is reported, that in 2018 Lufthansa paid around 500 million euros in compensation to passengers due to delays so they were in dire need of improvement.

Process mining aims to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of a process by taking into account a wide variety of data points. This is especially useful where efficient processes are key to operational success – like airports and airlines.

Lufthansa has started to use this technique to evaluate its processes like check-in and boarding. Instead of having airline employees wait next to gates for hours with clipboards and counting how long it takes for one passenger to pass and then averaging this to get a picture of how well boarding processes are performed by Lufthansa, the airline paired with airports to automate this. For example, every time a passenger scans their ticket into the machine, the information is recorded in a log – over time, this can increase the number of data points from a couple of hundred to a couple of millions. When airlines and airports gain valuable information on when airplanes land, how long it takes them to taxi to their gate, how long it takes for doors to open, for passengers to exit and enter the plane and the time it takes to refuel and take off again, processes can be improved greatly.

The basis of this model is that through the collection of a variety of data logs, airlines can accurately predict future “threats” based on past performance.

https://towardsdatascience.com/can-ai-reinvent-airport-excellence-bbf581939c4e

View at Medium.com

Wow: Lufthansa Paid 500 Million Euros In Compensation In 2018