Interactive mirror connecting people

As a person stood in front of the mirror, a camera relayed live video images of her to an Internet site where online participants could view her outfit. When Web viewers responded by sending her comments, their instant messages popped up on the left side of the mirror for her to read. They also selected items for her to try on, causing virtual images of the clothing to appear before her in the middle of the mirror, like life-size holograms. “I think it’s very cool that you could be in a department store and have your friends online at the same time helping you shop. It’s fun,” a customer said as a virtual navy blouse and white pants appeared in the mirror. She took a few steps back to line up her frame with the clothes on the screen.

But pointing to a friend accompanying her, she said the interactive mirror would not inspire her to trade team shopping for Web critics. “You get more personal attention when you shop with a friend live,” she said. For many women, shopping is a task best achieved in the company of other women. And when friends or mothers are not around, shoppers have become accustomed to snapping and sending photos of Coach handbags and Juicy Couture hoodies with their camera phones and soliciting opinions before they buy. But the new mirror, introduced to Nanette Lepore by IconNicholson, an interactive design firm in Manhattan, takes the concept of shopping in tandem one step further by streaming real-time video to the Internet and inviting shoppers to actively involve off-site friends to join the process. It brings fashion into the realm of social networking where people already freely share their opinions and lives via MySpace, Friendster, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and Web cams.

But it raises the question of whether the immediacy and tactile experience of shopping together in person can translate to a virtual audience. “The idea of being able to take your whole social network with you when you shop is a concept that any kid who leaves their house every day with their social network in their phone will understand,” said Tom Nicholson, the chief executive of IconNicholson. “They are already sharing everything with 500 contacts on Friendster, so if five of them happen to be online, why not ask them whether you look good in green?” “We’re all asking each other: `Do I look fat? How does it look from the back? Can I wear this with jeans?’ ” Ms. Lepore said. “If you want the truth, you need to shop with a critic whose opinion you trust.”