Google Shopping Launches New AI Tools to Make Online Shopping More Realistic and Inclusive

Google is launching new Artificial Intelligence features to improve the experience of online shopping, making them more realistic and inclusive for the consumer.

The idea of this new tool is to help users find clothes across a range of skin tones and body types, and also to refine their search until they find exactly what they want.

Google Shopping users in the United States already have access to this feature to carry out tests on the platform. Initially, they will only have women’s tops from a selection of brands such as H&M, Anthropologie, Everlane and Loft available for virtual experience.

These models are available with various skin tones, ethnicities, hair types and body shapes, and are realistically shown through real human models.The other pieces of women’s and men’s clothing will be available later this year, according to Google. 

Virtual “Fitting Room” with a variety of skin tones and body types

According to Google’s Product Director, Lilian Ricon, the idea of ​​this feature is to make consumers feel confident in buying clothes online, avoiding disappointments and allowing the user to visualize how the clothes will look on their body with more detail, even before they buy it.

According to Google, 42% of online shoppers don’t feel represented by model images, and 51% feel dissatisfied with an item they purchased online because it looked different than expected.

Virtual clothing fitting uses a diffusion-based generative AI model, which is trained by adding Gaussian noise to an image (essentially random pixels) that the model learns to remove to generate realistic images. This makes Google’s AI model represent images more realistically, no matter what angle or pose they are in.

Refine a product and find what you really want

Google has also launched a feature that helps you find products based on other options you’ve tried. For example, you like a shirt but want a cheaper version? Or did you find a pair of jeans but want a different pattern? In this refinement created by Google, shoppers can tweak products until they find the perfect piece.

This is thanks to machine enhancements and new visual matching algorithms, allowing you to refine parts using inputs such as color, style and pattern.This feature is also available for beginners directly from the product listings.

The future of AI

What we previously only saw in movies – like “Clueless” with the virtual closet of the protagonist Cher – has become more than real and now AI technology is present during different moments of our day.

With that continual boom in Artificial intelligence usage day by day, the concern regarding its regulation has also become a point to be discussed. The EU, for example, has this week approved a bill to regulate AI.

One of the points raised during the discussion of the bill was the prohibition of the use of real-time facial recognition in public spaces, except in cases of criminal activity and court authorization. It is possible that other countries will also start creating this type of law, aimed at Artificial Intelligence usage, as a way to regulate the market and protect consumer rights.

It is important that large technology companies remain attentive to this movement so that their ideas do not exceed the limits imposed by the jurisdictions of each country, and do not interfere with the development of a technology that can be beneficial to all.

Furthermore, we are looking forward to testing these new Google Shopping features and making online shopping more democratic and realistic.

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