I tried AI-powered home shopping on DirecTV – and suddenly my TV wanted to dress me

Image the scene. I’m standing in entrance of a display with Vikash Sharma, head of product at DirecTV, and Mansi Jain, chief working officer of Look. They invite me to add a selfie.

Moments later, the system is dressing me. Totally different jackets. Sneakers. Hairstyles. The odd suggestion which will or might not flatter a Scottish editor wandering round Las Vegas in convention mode.

However the magic isn’t simply the novelty; it’s how the entire thing works contained in the TV itself.

Turning the TV from passive to interactive

DirecTV has spent the previous few years evolving from a standard satellite tv for pc tv supplier into one thing extra like a streaming platform aggregator. As Sharma explains, the concept was to deliver every thing – from linear TV to providers like Netflix and Apple TV – into one unified interface.

However as soon as the platform was constructed, one other query emerged, says Sharma: “How can we deliver much more interactive experiences?”

That query ultimately led DirecTV to Look, an AI firm that has been quietly constructing what it calls “agentic commerce” – purchasing experiences pushed by generative AI slightly than conventional looking.

The partnership launched on DirecTV’s Gemini streaming {hardware} in late 2025. Since then, the businesses say about 1.5 million month-to-month customers have already interacted with the Look expertise by means of DirecTV.

Look claims customers are spending round 120 minutes a day inside it. That’s a critical quantity of sofa-based curiosity.

When your screensaver turns into a store window

Probably the most uncommon a part of the system is the way it seems. As an alternative of launching a separate app, the Look expertise can take over when a viewer pauses a present.

Your TV’s screensaver – usually a well mannered digital nap – instantly turns into an interactive feed of life-style content material, style seems to be and shoppable objects.

Click on on one thing you want and the AI will present the way it would possibly look on you utilizing generative imagery.

“TV has all the time been a passive system,” Jain tells me. “We’re making an attempt to make it a lean-in expertise.” In different phrases, the tv turns into much less like a broadcast pipe and extra like a large discovery engine sitting in your front room.

How the AI truly works

Behind the scenes, Look says the system depends on three core AI fashions. First is a commerce intelligence mannequin educated on purchasing knowledge to know what merchandise work for various individuals.

Second is a consumer mannequin, which extracts over 1,000 attributes from a single selfie – every thing from physique form to fashion preferences.

Lastly, a generative AI layer produces the pictures exhibiting what these merchandise would possibly appear to be on you.

The result’s basically a digital becoming room on a TV display. And {the catalogue} feeding it’s huge. Look says it has built-in greater than 200m product SKUs from manufacturers.

Why manufacturers are leaning in

Curiously, Look doesn’t truly deal with the checkout. When viewers click on on an merchandise they like, the system sends them to the model’s personal website to finish the acquisition.

Jain says that’s deliberate. “Agentic platforms are nice at creating intent, however the checkout expertise continues to be finest dealt with by the service provider.”

Manufacturers, in the meantime, appear glad to take part. In response to Look, customers who work together with its AI commerce expertise are thrice extra possible to purchase than conventional looking.

That’s catnip for retailers making an attempt to achieve customers in new locations.

A communal purchasing display

Watching the demo, one other level turns into apparent: tv modifications the context of purchasing. Telephones are solitary units. TVs are communal ones.

Sharma suggests that might matter for classes like style, residence decor and life-style purchases the place a number of individuals in a family would possibly weigh in. “Moderately than taking a look at a small display,” he says, “you possibly can see it on the large display and make the choice collectively.”

It’s an attention-grabbing twist on an outdated retail idea – the shared purchasing expertise – however up to date for the AI period.

A glimpse of the following commerce interface

Look initially launched in Asia round six years in the past as a content-commerce platform on smartphone lock screens. Over the previous 18 months, nevertheless, the corporate has pivoted closely towards AI-driven purchasing experiences.

It now claims 7 million month-to-month customers within the US throughout its platforms. And its executives consider the shift towards AI-led commerce is just simply starting.

Inside just a few years, Jain predicts, 25-30% of e-commerce transactions may begin by means of AI brokers slightly than conventional looking. If that occurs, the tv would possibly instantly change into a surprisingly essential commerce interface once more.

The TV that clothes you

Again on the demo, the system continues to be suggesting outfits for me. Some work. Some… much less so. However the broader concept is evident.

For many years, the trade talked about interactive TV as the way forward for commerce. It by no means fairly occurred. Now AI would possibly lastly give it the brains – and the personalization – it all the time lacked.