Amazon Echo Look Experiment Ends

A look at the history of and now the end of fashion advice from Echo Look. Had some people look at it but it got only rare interest and the experiment ended quickly.  Passing this along to people that had interest for closure.

Amazon Echo Look No More – Another Alexa Device Discontinued  By Brett Kinsella in voicebt.ai  

Amazon quietly introduced the Echo Look Alexa-enabled smart speaker for fashion advice in April 2017. Yesterday, the company quietly informed its few thousand users that Echo Look would be discontinued. In providing background on the latest shakeup of Amazon’s Alexa portfolio, an Amazon spokesperson shared the text of an email sent to Echo Look users yesterday saying:

“When we introduced Echo Look three years ago, our goal was to train Alexa to become a style assistant as a novel way to apply AI and machine learning to fashion. With the help of our customers we evolved the service, enabling Alexa to give outfit advice and offer style recommendations. We’ve since moved Style by Alexa features into the Amazon Shopping app and to Alexa-enabled devices making them even more convenient and available to more Amazon customers. For that reason, we have decided it’s time to wind down Echo Look. Beginning July 24, 2020, both Echo Look and its app will no longer function. Customers will still be able to enjoy style advice from Alexa through the Amazon Shopping app and other Alexa-enabled devices. We look forward to continuing to support our customers and their style needs with Alexa.” .... 

Amazon Echo Look always seemed like an experiment. It was launched in a closed, invite-only beta three years ago. A year later it was made available to the public for purchase though there was never much attention paid to the device in Amazon’s product launch events.

Echo was the first Alexa-enabled product that included a camera. However, it notably had no screen. The first smart display, Echo Show, would launch two months later and get a product refresh within 15 months of launch. Echo Look never received a formal product update and wasn’t even billed as a smart speaker. The company made clear that Echo Look could not do many of the things that were popular features on  Echo smart speakers.   .... " 

More on Echo Look

Had not heard about Amazon's Style Assistant, called Amazon Look for a while.  Of interest because we also examined many 'style' assistants here over the years.   Still unclear how well this would work.   Intrigued by the approach.   Looking for a usage review to see how this works in place.

Amazon’s Echo Look style assistant gets a little bit smarter
More fashion from the all seeing eye
By Thuy Ong    @ThuyOng   in the Verge

Amazon has rolled out several new features for its Echo Look “style assistant” including a new collections tool, curated content from Vogue and GQ, and voice profile support. The Echo Look is a camera that takes full-body length photos to catalogue your outfits in a “Look Book” and suggests fashion recommendations through machine learning. It also has a shopping element that suggests fashion items from (of course), Amazon.  ....  " 

Under the new Collections tool in the Echo Look app, users can now organize their clothing catalogue by options including color, item, and occasion. The feature also allows users to create customized lists to organize their looks for a weekend away or what to wear to a music festival. Amazon says the feature automatically creates collections for favorites, videos, camera phone photos, seasons, and even weather. ... " 

More on VR Magic Mirror Idea

An old idea, but the technology has been creeping up on doing it well. We demonstrated the concept for years in innovation center venues.

In Fastcompany:     Amazon patents a mirror that lets you try on clothes, virtually. Can this be successfully be linked to their Amazon Look assistant to give useful, visual advice.    Have seen relatively little about that play recently.