Dive Brief:

• Naked Labs has unveiled a 3D body scanner for home use, shipping the flagship product to customers for the first time. The startup has also raised $14 million in Series A funding from several investors, according to a company press release.

• The 3D Fitness Tracker consists of a body-scanning smart mirror equipped with Intel RealSense depth sensors and WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity; a scale that rotates 360 degrees in 15 seconds to measure body fat, lean mass and other metrics; and a companion mobile app for tracking body changes over time.

• Naked Labs said its 3D body scanner is now shipping to pre-order customers and will be generally available in the fourth quarter this year for $1,395. The company's co-founder and chief operating officer, Ed Sclater, told Racked that Naked Labs has "been in conversation with both high-end and mid-tier brands" about using the scanner's measurements for more personalized shopping on e-commerce sites.

Dive Insight:

A number of investors, including Founders Fund, NEA, Lumia Capital, Venture 51, Seabed VC, and others, have lined up to bet on Naked Labs' attempt to make 3D body scanning a reality for the broad consumer market. The company's release of its flagship system and its new funding signal that body-scanning technology could be about to take off in some form — possibly in several forms.

Naked Labs isn't the only company working in this space. There are other start-ups working with 3D technology in various ways, like Invertex, which has a foot-scanning system to help shoe shoppers find the perfect fit. True Fit takes a data-driven and machine learning-enabled approach to helping shoppers find better fits. Modsy, which uses 3D visualization of products, touted its own successful funding round last winter.

Most notably, Amazon acquired Body Labs last fall, reportedly for $100 million. Though it's not clear what the e-commerce giant is doing with the technology, it wouldn't be surprising to see Amazon integrate it into existing Echo devices, or even develop something along the lines of what Naked Labs has created.

Retailers such as Adidas and J.Crew also have recognized the importance of making sure every customer finds the right fit. The former has experimented with body scanning technology to develop an in-store, customized sweater using a 3D knitting process. J.Crew, for its part, is just trying to be more inclusive, broadening its range of sizes available.

Given all of this movement, it's interesting that Naked Labs is initially positioning its technology as a fitness solution. Yet the company also hints at retail and apparel applications, noting that it envisions "a future where the world isn't designed for any body, but for your body. Imagine clothes tailored to the 10th of an inch, dynamic health care plans, playing yourself in a video game — all enabled by your precise digital body model."

It's clear that Naked Labs sees a lot of potential applications and effects, including more personalized and refined apparel shopping, that could be driven by its technology.