New App Will Accurately Calculate Your Bra Size

measuring-woman's-bust

According to widely circulated research, 85 percent of women wear the wrong bra size. And now one woman—a NASA scientist—is trying to change that with a new app.

The startup app (which has already raised $5.6 million in funding), called ThirdLove, promises to deliver an accurate bra sizes by simply uploading a photo of the user’s bust onto the application. Once uploaded, the app renders three-dimensional data based on the two-dimensional photos and, in a female’s voice, gives calculations and recommendations on what bra size is the best fit.

The app was founded by Dave Spector, former partner at Sequoia Capital, and led by Ara Nefian, a senior scientist with the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA Ames Research Center. Although an executive at NASA Ames reiterated that “No NASA software, technology, equipment or facilities were used in Mr. Nefian’s consulting to Third Love,” we’re sure the founders expertise alone is enough to produce a tech-savvy fitting app.

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Neither Spector nor Nefian wanted to get into specifics of the app’s technology, however, Nefian told Fast Company that the back end “involves several methods of advanced computer vision, body modeling, and machine learning.”

The app is still in private beta testing until September, but the founders are already considering future moves. Spector told Fast Company as the app gains traction, they’ll move more towards other types of clothing.

If you go into a Hollister store, it’s like you’re at the beach,” said Spector. “There are beautiful models walking around. There’s a livestream of the beach in California. It’s pretty hard to beat that when you’re working with a flat, two-dimensional 12-inch screen or a smartphone.”

But buyer beware: If you’re looking to just get your bra size and take that information elsewhere for some shopping, it’s not gonna happen. ThirdLove uses your calculations to suggest proper-fitting bras on its own market and does not reveal those numbers on the app. The company manufactures its own lingerie, based on customization and fit and tailors to the needs of its users.

Unlike everybody else, in this case the whole experience starts off with learning about who you are,” Spector told TechCrunch. “And once we know that data, it’s really a third element to the whole personalization scene.”