We’ve talked smack about a few “smart mirrors” before, but one video/reflection hybrid finally has me more interested than disgusted. Hub, a boutique in Scottsdale, AZ, recently developed their own system to help ass-conscious customers see exactly what they’re getting out of their pricey pantaloons. What differs their interactive looking-glass from the others we’ve seen is that it solves an actual problem; the Hub, um, ButtCam, saved me from asking my sister “how my ass looks in these jeans” by real-time television-ing my G-STAR-covered booty straight on to a mirror-mounted flatscreen. My sister normally tells me the truth, anyway, but it was pretty awesome to see, right next to the front view of myself, the [pleasantly okay] view from behind. High fives go out to Jen, Hub’s longtime leader, for being smart enough to patent this technology- that’s a great way to brand yourself in a world swimming with denim boutiques.

Awhile ago, I wrote a rather scathing review of an interactive mirror being used by a well-known fashion designer to digitally dress potential customers in her latest collections. I thought it was really, really, lame…and I still do, but a newish clothing line available in the UK is using a slightly similar idea to sell their small collection of tees online. The site for Cicatriz Clothing uses a tiled page of short clip videos (think intro to “The Brady Bunch”) to help viewers preview their good-looking collection. Each short clip features the same guy doing some dude-ish things in one of Cicatriz’s designs, and easy to comprehend flash tricks help you to get as worked up over the site as the actual offerings. What’s good about this form of video integration is its innate viral potential (whereas that other projection was sickly dependent on IM technology). The clothes themselves are are as much worthy of a look as the site itself — even though much of it is sold out at present — so turn your sound way up, then head over for some mid-day fun.

Last week, designer Nanette Lepore began testing a new breed of interactive mirrors in her department at Bloomingdale’s in New York. While these reflectors look like any other fitting room partner, they actually function as a three-part, high-resolution digital screen that projects a virtual image of selected fashions onto the potential buyer. The resulting image is then forwarded to a special webpage, where logged-in friends can post their opinions about the ensemble. Lepore plans to install these mirrors in her New York, Tokyo and Las Vegas boutiques, apparently in hopes that her shoppers will utilize this new technology to further develop their dependent personalities. While I’m intrigued by the technology behind this new dressing room addition (developed by IconNicholson, an interactive design firm), the overall theory behind it’s current use is almost appalling to me– what woman wants to– or has the time to– sit around and give fashion advice from behind a computer screen? Girls shop together for a reason, and I don’t see much potential for similar psychological benefits in this rather impersonal connection. This has value as a novelty, maybe, but I’ll be shocked if it’s granted a more meaningful assessment.