Health and wellness have taken center stage in the mattress industry, with manufacturers and retailers offering innovative products and high-tech systems for bed matching, pressure mapping and more.
Industry veteran Kevin Kappenmen had been counting on that, and his strategic planning is about to pay off.
Ten years ago, Kappenmen sold his Washington-based mattress store, The Sleep Firm, which he had opened after working at Serta and managing Thomasville Furniture of Seattle.
Around the time he sold the store, he explored intellectual property (IP) and filed a patent for a mid-layer mattress material he called Body Orthotic. Then he found a way to use light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to create 3D models and detailed maps of a human’s body.
“The concept was that we’d find retail partners that would offer 3D scanning, and we would scan their body with Lidar so we could measure them in 3D and then we would cut a two-to-three-inch-thick, high ILD foam. I had this concept of going at some higher-end sleep shops.”
However, the LIDAR Booth cost the retailer a pretty penny: $30,000. While some retailers may not blink an eye at that, smaller independents could not handle that level of equipment expense.
So the company teamed up with 3D scanning pioneer and industry leader Size Stream, to take pressure mapping to the next level with Scanfit.ai.
Traditional pressure mapping is entirely dependent on the surface under the pressure sensors and cannot accurately portray three-dimensional features such as spinal topography.
The process works by scanning a person standing in two positions, which it calls Active Tracking Pose Detections. Then it takes high-resolution silhouettes of the person and transmits all of this data through the cloud to create a 3D avatar.
By using standing 3D avatars, Scanfit.ai can fully extract surface pressures, spinal topography, and other important landmarks and ratios for selecting mattresses without the limitations of traditional pressure mapping.
“I respect what pressure maps have done for the industry by creating a higher level of experience and a destination retail experience, but they have their limitations,” Kappenmen says. “The problem with pressure mapping is that it always has a conspicuous gap in the lumbar area, and the result that you’re getting is very subjective to the mattress under the mat. Whereas with a 3D model, we can create objective data. We understand the lumbar curve, and we modify our recommended output based on what somebody has with the lumbar curve.”
The tech runs off of an iPad and the processing time has been shortened from three minutes initially to now 30-45 seconds. Kappenmen says the technology is ready to launch, but he is looking for solid partners before bringing the technology live.
“We have five steps that we will offer retailers with our equipment:
- Acquire. Scanfit.ai enhances capabilities and delivers an experience that showcases skill and competence to the guest.
- Engage. Staff become instant experts with the technology supporting their interactions with guests.
- Convert. Sales associates gain confidence with every customer engagement
- Retain: Pressure mapping is proven to reassure customers in their mattress purchases. Pressureless scaling builds on this, utilizing the latest 3D scanning technology.
- Refer. Satisfied customers are loyal customers who will share their positive experiences with friends.“
Kappenmen says he aims to disrupt the e-commerce side of the industry by creating the best mattress destinations. “The response to the technology has been great,” he says.’ It’s a turnkey solution in the sense that it should be simple, but it has to be a partnership that both partners want to nurture.”
Scanfit.ai aims to launch before the year’s end. If you’re interested in this technology, contact Kappenmen at kkappenman@gmail.com
