eBay wants to help shoppers keep up with the latest fashion trends with the help of technology. An excerpt from a patent filing shows eBay envisions a system that determines top fashion trends and, using an image detection algorithm, extracts images of fashion items from a picture associated with each of the top fashion trends. “Using the extracted images, the networked system performs an image search for matching inventory items.”
The eBay patent filing Background section explains:
“Conventionally, a user can go online and search fashion blogs, magazines, or social media (e.g., Pinterest, Instagram) for fashion ideas. However, once the user finds an outfit or article(s) of clothing the user is interested in, the user does not know where to obtain the outfit or article(s) of clothing.
“Additionally, the user may not know what the individual pieces of clothing are called, a brand of a piece of clothing, or an associated color in order to search for the piece of clothing.
“If the user attempts to perform searches online, the user is typically forced to visit numerous sites in an attempt to find the same or similar article(s) of clothing.”
Fashion has long been a priority for eBay, and in March of this year, eBay hired a new Vice President of Fashion, Charis Máquez, who said she looked forward to building on eBay’s recent investments in sneakers, luxury, and authentication
Ina Steiner
