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TECHNOLOGY
Healey Cypher
Oak Labs
From the "Strong Out of the Gate" file, Healey Cypher caught the eye of no less an industry giant than Ralph Lauren with his new smart fitting room.
Cypher, cofounder and chief executive officer of Oak Labs, launched the start-up with a bang at the end of last year. After raising $4.1 million in seed funding to bring the smart fitting room to retail at scale, Ralph Lauren signed on as the product's launch partner.
Lauren purchased 16 of Oak's first product -- full-size touch-screen mirror units -- before the technology even went to market. Half were installed in Polo's Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan. The mirrors, which recognize when clothing is brought inside the fitting room via RFID chip, welcome consumers with customized content. Users get three lighting options to try on their choices, and whatever items they brought inside are automatically populated on the mirror. With a tap, they can ask an associate for a different size or color,...