Shinsegae Department Store plans to try out the service in cooperation with the i-Fashion Clothing Technical Center of Konkuk University in the Elord golf wear shop of its main branch from Friday.
At the Elord shop, customers can dress a three-dimensional likeness of themselves that includes their precise body measurements to see if an item of clothing fits well.
A shopper at Shinsegae Department Store tries on clothes using a 3-D virtual fitting service on Thursday. /Yonhap
The procedure is simple. At the shop, you enter a room where a three-dimensional scanner scans your body in detail in just ten seconds. Using that information, the system creates a 3-D personalized avatar for you.
When you exit the room, you'll meet your avatar on a large screen. Then you scan the RFID tag of an item you want to try on and it will appear on your avatar. The system also lets you select from a variety of other clothing options.
If the technology takes off it could change the way people shop, especially online. Many people are hesitant to buy clothes over the Internet because they can't check how they fit.
After a shopper has been scanned the information is encrypted and stored on a smart card for future shopping.
A Shinsegae official said the store plans to introduce the avatar technology on Shinsegae and E-Mart's online shops by next year.
An official from Shinsegae's system planning team said, "If this technology spreads to other sectors, I expect it could create a lot of new consumer-oriented businesses."
