Mirror, mirror on the wall: ‘yes, those jeans make your butt look fat’

An interactive mirror is just about the last thing most of us want or need but one may be coming to a retail store near you. Today at the National Retail Federation’s annual convention interactive mirrors, designed by IconNicholson, were just one of the myriad innovations on display from all sorts of vendors including IBM and Cisco. The mirrors work by employing a social networking site, cameras and instant messaging. One stands in front of the mirror and invites one’s friends to comment on the clothes one might be thinking of buying … friends then commence laughing and IMing responses to a screen the buyer can see (it’s the IMs you can’t see that would be fun). No really, the idea is that onlooker could make suggestions and even pop-up alternative outfits. IconNicholson calls this “social retailing.” What would you call it?