Nike unveils AR feature to help customers find the perfect shoe fit

US sportswear giant Nike has unveiled a new AR feature within the Nike app that aims to help users find the perfect shoe fit.

According to Nike, 60 percent of people are likely wearing the wrong shoe size. That’s where Nike Fit comes in. The new scanning feature uses a combination of computer vision, data science, machine learning, artificial intelligence and recommendation algorithms that the company says gives it an advantage over traditional measurement methods which “don’t provide nearly enough data to get a shoe to fit comfortably.”

So how does the feature work? Within the Nike app, shoppers will be able to select a new option on the size section of any given shoe that will pull up Nike Fit. Using their smartphone's camera, the “hyper-accurate” feature will then collect 13 data points mapping the morphology for both feet. The unique foot dimension can then be stored in the NikePlus member profile and used for future shopping online and in-store.

“If you have used Nike Fit to scan your feet and you go to purchase a Nike Cortez on the Nike app, you won’t see a run of sizes anymore. Instead, you’ll just see your size for that particular shoe,” Nike said on its website. “Then, if you go to buy a Nike Air Zoom Pegasus you might see another size. That’s because different shoes are made with different performance intent – a running shoe works best for the athlete when a little more snug while a sportswea r shoe is designed to have more room for everyday wear.”

The feature will also be available in Nike’s stores, where customers will be able to stand on specially developed Nike Fit mat while shop assistants measure their feet using the app.

The new Nike Fit feature will reportedly start being rolled out in July

Pictures: Nike newsroom