Canadian startup uses iPhone’s face biometrics camera for DIY shoe-sizing app

A Canadian startup is proposing to repurpose the computer vision technology behind 3D face biometrics to enable people to accurately measure their shoe-size, according to University of Toronto News.

Xesto is collaborating with computer engineering researchers through the University of Toronto Early Stage Technologies (UTEST) program, using the depth-sensing camera on iPhones to develop a free app, released in December. The company has one patent granted and another pending, and says its technology can measure foot-size to within 1.5 millimeters, and then cross-reference the measurements with sizing guidelines from more than 150 different shoe brands to predict the best fit.

“What really stood out for me at Xesto was that they were using something so innovative and new at a level that could impact the everyday consumer,” says graduate student Najah Hassan, who is working with Jeffrey Qiu and Jungson Shao on the project. “I didn’t think of using it for anything other than [self-driving] cars. That blew me away.”

Xesto Co-founder and CEO Sophie Howe says the company’s acceptance into the accelerator has been pivotal for the company, giving it access to the resources of the U of T startup community.

A video depicting the app shows it asks for 4 photos to be captured from different angles with the Face ID camera, from roughly a foot off the ground.

Article Topics

3D face recognition  |  biometrics  |  Canada  |  computer vision  |  facial recognition  |  startup