Intel + Nordstrom’s New Technology Will Make Shoe Shopping Even More Fun
Say you own 30 pairs of shoes (that’s a conservative guess for some of us… I mean, have you seen the new spring shoe trends?). Now out of those 30, you likely only wear 10 of them regularly. The other 20 are either super seasonal, for special occasions or just plain give you blisters every time you go near them. While there’s not much that can be done about season-specific and special-occasion shoes, Intel and Nordstrom have paired up to help you make sure you never buy an ill-fitting pair of shoes again. We went to the National Retail Federation Retail’s Big Show convention happening today at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center here in NYC to get a first hand look at their brand new trademarked RealSense technology.
Nordstrom is already testing the tech internally in select stores, but they’re planning on rolling out a brand-new shoe fitting technique very, very soon — like within-the-next-year soon. As a shopper, all you need to do is step on the measurement scale, called the VANDRA scanner, made by tech company Volumental and implemented with Intel’s RealSense 3D Scanning cameras and software, and it will measure your foot precisely. The corresponding app can provide info on the height of your arches, the width of the ball of your foot and your heel-to-toe length, and even provide you with a 3D scan of your tootsies.
Then, based on that info, it well help you find shoes that fit your exact size. If you’re a seven for some sizes and a seven-and-a-half for some other brands, there’s literally no more guessing which shoe of whatever style is just right for your foot. Call us Cinderella, because that sounds amazing.
“The goal is to have employees spend less time in the back room,” says Shailesh Chaudhry, Global Director for Retail Solutions at Intel, “and more time on the sales floor having face time with their customers.” Plus, Intel says all the tech is in place for retailers to make the call on whether of not they and their customers would like to store this info to a shopper’s loyalty card account, thus eliminating all of the guesswork when it comes to shopping for shoes online as well.
Might as well embrace the fact your shoe habit is about to get much worse.
Are you excited about this technology? Tweet us with your two cents @BritandCo!
(Photos via Volumental+ Intel)
