wanna kicks lets you virtually try on sneakers before you buy them

the biggest problems with shopping online is the risk that everything you bought might not look like it does in the pictures, fit correctly, or suit you. belarus startup wannaby has come up with a solution for at least one of these, building an ‘AR commerce’ experience that lets you ‘try on’ sneakers before you buy them. wannaby presents the wanna kicks augmented reality app that uses augmented reality letting users choose a pair of kicks from a list of 3D models.

wanna kicks features products from all sort of big brands including NIKE, adidas, yeezy, and vans. once you’ve chosen your favorite sneakers, point your camera at your feet and — voila — you’re now virtually wearing the chosen footwear. users can move and rotate your feet or change camera angle. the AR app will even follow your footsteps as you walk. wannaby believes its technology can help customers and retailers by reducing the chances of people returning items. 

images courtesy of wannaby

header image via fightclub

‘our mission is to break online shopping barriers,’ wannaby ceo sergey arkhangelskiy told techcrunch. ‘we believe that ar try-on can help customers to shop online and will wash away the difference between online and offline shopping. we see two major problems in the shoe market. online conversions are quite low, and returns are quite high, in comparison to traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ shopping. the ability to try sneakers with your phone before buying online should shift conversions, engagement and returns.‘

‘we’ve built wanna kicks for gen z and millennials who are interested in buying sneakers and eager to know whether they will fit their style or not,’ arkhangelskiy added. ‘the ar and ai community will love our launch as well — we’ve accomplished a really difficult task in computer vision and rendering.’