An App Called ThirdLove Using AI To Find Correct Bra Size

Artificial Intelligence has a wide variety of application and a NASA scientist is using it in a little strange way, she has built an application called ThirdLove that uses the AI to tell correct bra size.

A survey showed that 80 percent of women wear the wrong size bra, out this 70 percent wore bras that were too small and rest wore bras that were too big and this leads to severe problems like the formation of lumps, breast sagging, neck pain, skin problems, loose breast and in worst case breast cancer.

ThirdLove is a retail startup that promises to address this problem by quickly telling the correct bra size. ThirdLove is also a clothing brand under the parent company MeCommerce.

The application of ThridLove is based on the concept of the use of computer vision technology to predict more accurate bra sizes. People took photos of themselves using ThirdLove’s proprietary app, and the computer vision technology then processed the images and suggested a personalized fit.

The app delivers an accurate bra size by simply uploading a photo of the user’s bust onto the application. Once uploaded, the app renders three-dimensional data based on the two-dimensional photos and, in a female’s voice, gives calculations and recommendations on what bra size is the best fit.

“The app was problematic, to say the least,” said a former engineer Ben. “It basically only worked if the photos were good. When people tried out the at-home instructions exactly, i.e take two pictures in front of a full-length mirror in good lighting while wearing a tight tank top, making sure the phone is at waist-height”.

“These results in the reliably accurate shots. But getting people to do that was difficult.”

The app doesn’t require you to be naked to get the right measurements. You don’t even have to take a direct picture of your chest. All that’s needed is a mirror, a form-fitting shirt, and a basic, supportive bra.

To navigate the users through the app and teach them about how to take pictures, the app also features a tutorial in the voice of a polite female, there is also a Siri voice that will guide you through the directions.

Instructions on the screen ask to line up a box with the iPhone in the photo and to place a line on the chest, then tap the screen to take a picture. You will get feedback saying “Good Job” then repeat from a side view.

In each picture, you can zoom and drag the iPhone in the image into a dotted blue box.

Your phone then becomes a point of reference for the app to scale the rest of your body. After matching up a couple of blue lines to the width of your bust, you’re all set.

The platform collects your measurements from the pictures and puts it into an algorithm to determine your size. It then takes you to a custom page to choose from three bra styles.

Ara Nefian a senior scientist with the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center said: “ThirdLove uses several methods of advanced computer vision, body modeling, and machine learning”.

“And by the uses of iPhone photos, each photo is a “calibration object” for estimating the parameters of the camera. Once those parameters are known, it’s possible to accurately measure a 3-D object, in this case, the human body using a 2-D image”.

If you’re looking to just get your bra size and take that information elsewhere for some shopping, it’s not gonna happen. ThirdLove uses your calculations to suggest proper-fitting bras on its own market and does not reveal those numbers on the app.

The company does not reveal the actual bra size assigned to you, as I already say that they are also a clothing company so everything on the landing page is completely tailored to you as per your choice and fitting. The company manufactures its own lingerie, based on customization and fit and tailors to the needs of its users.

The website of the ThridLove also doesn’t have any drop-down menu for sizes and any sort of numbers or letters that go along with it, the customer has to use their methods for the perfect bra.

On one hand, this is a great way to alleviate comparisons or concerns about the size you are what you are. On the other hand, it could get a little frustrating if you are looking to shop elsewhere and still have no clue what your proper fit is.

ThirdLove is currently in private beta. The app was founded by Dave Spector, a former partner at Sequoia Capital, and led by Ara Nefian, a senior scientist with the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center.

Although an executive at NASA Ames reiterated that “No NASA software, technology, equipment or facilities were used in Mr. Nefian’s consulting to Third Love,” we’re sure the fonder’s expertise alone is enough to produce a tech-savvy fitting app.