Amazon Echo Look: Why New Smart Assistant Offers Something Totally Different
"Alexa, does this dress make me look good?"
Amazon’s Echo collection now has a personal stylist.
The newest addition to the voice assistant hardware lineup is the “Echo Look”. The “Hands-Free Camera and Style Assistant with Alexa” comes with what Amazon is calling a “Style Check,” which is essentially Alexa giving you her opinion on your #ootd.
The Look, priced at $200, isn’t yet available. Instead, it’s only being rolled out via exclusive “invites” to Amazon users. However, early reviews are surprisingly positive, considering this is Echo’s first foray into fashion consulting.
While other Alexa devices like the Echo and Dot are designed to assist with daily tasks like playing music or calendar events, the aptly named Look is meant to help you, “love your look — every day.”
The way it works is the device’s built-in camera and the Echo Look app are synced to help document, organize and photograph your outfits using 360-degree imagery. This is meant to get you to see which looks are the most flattering, thus creating “favorite” wardrobe combinations.
Of course, the Look wouldn’t be a complete voice assistant system without a social media aspect.
According to USA Today’s review, users can post the stylish content to their social feeds and share them with friends via text. Another feature allows Look to offer a “style check” feature, which uses machine-learning algorithms along with fashion editorial advice from the likes of Vogue and GQ.
While it’s too soon to tell how the Look will fare in comparison with the bestselling Echo, it’s clear that the potential market for its use is there.
According to Amazon, the Look allows for easy use. “Using just your voice, easily take full-length photos and 6-second videos of your daily look and build your own personal lookbook.”
The product’s description also notes the Echo Look has “hands-free camera features built-in LED lighting, depth-sensing, and computer vision-based background blur to make your outfits pop.”
However, at a steep $199 price point, it’s more than quadruple the cost of an Echo Dot. This will place the Look within the top of the Echo lineup, along with the camera-equipped Echo Show.
