The technology firm IconNicholson has developed a fully functional interactive mirror that enables shoppers to connect remotely, in real time, with friends and other online shoppers. This “Social Shopping” kiosk allows teens to “make buying decisions together to see what others have purchased, as well as purchase items that are not in stock in the store.” An embedded video camera broadcasts the shopper’s image, and the shopper can ask, and receive, opinions on their look. Reuters has a great in-depth video report with more information on the experience.

This concept is very similar to some concepts that we’ve been discussing with our clients, and has great potential among younger shoppers who are accustomed to this type of connectivity and interaction. I wonder if IconNicholson has started developing widgets for this? So far, it appears that the entire system is self-contained. I think that if all of these shoppers had a Social Shopping widget installed on their MySpace or Facebook profile, the popularity and effectiveness of this concept would really take off. We’ll keep an eye on it, and see how it evolves. (via CScout)