Ever trailed round clothes shops looking for the holy grail of something that
a)fits b)you can afford c)you like
Never again- I propose the establishment of a chain of 3 dimensional body mapping machines. You stand in the machine and laser measuring equipment produces a complete record of your physical form which is presented to you on a cdrom. This is already well established technology for smaller objects.
You then visit clothing manufacturers sites on the web, select cloths and styles that you like and upload your body map with your order. Computer controlled machines then design, cut and stitch the item to fit you absolutely perfectly.
You could actually have a 3d model of yourself wearing the proposed purchases rendered on the website to help you choose, no longer will ladies have to ask bored and exhausted spouses whether their bum "looks big in this", no more will we have to bite back the retort that its not the clothes that make your bum look big, its all that chocolate you ate you silly moo.
After a short period the exquisitely tailored apparel arrives at your home in one of those excitingly large flat boxes surrounded by fragrant tissue paper in a pastel hue.
Just think-shoes that fit perfectly, shirt cuffs that protrude precisely one inch from the jacket sleeve, non-baggy trousering of perfect length, not having to drag round appalling shopping malls.
Investors welcome.-- IvanIdea, Mar 16 2002 You mean . . . just like this http://www.cyberwar...oducts/wbxInfo.html"Cyberware Whole Body 3D Scanner automatically extracts dozens of tailor and anthropological measurements." [bristolz, Mar 16 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] And of course, the tailoring software . . . http://www.cyberwar...ducts/digisize.html"Cyberware's Whole Body (WBX) 3D Scanner and DigiSize software perform real-time automated body measurement and uniform size selection. In 30 seconds, the DigiSize software evaluates . . . " [bristolz, Mar 16 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004] Laser sizing for shoes http://blogs.zdnet....ag=feed&subj=zdblogLink courtesy moominply [DrCurry, Jan 27 2006] Like this? http://www.landsend.comNo direct link, but halfway down on the left side: "My Virtual Model" Of course this is a catalog/web store. [PollyNo9, Jan 27 2006] Not the place where I take my old car to have a new set of coverings fitted?-- neelandan, Mar 16 2002 the measuring stuff is baked but how many shops have one of these scanners (i havent seen any in UK - are they common in US?) and is there a website that does the actual auto-tailor thing?-- chud, Mar 16 2002 I haven't seen or heard of any in the US, either.-- StarChaser, Mar 17 2002 Its not quite what I had in mind, this system seems designed to measure the body and determine which premade size would fit least worse (I choose my words carefully but clumsily). I was suggesting a process where the bdy was mapped and the information used to manufacture clothing and shoes specifically to fit that shape. If you had my shape, something like a four legged spider, you would know that no pre-made garment was ever going to fit in all dimensions.-- IvanIdea, Mar 18 2002 The Land's End website has a "virtual model", but it isn't very precise.-- PollyNo9, Jan 27 2006 random, halfbakery