Hi3G Access releases a video and still image sharing system for e-commerce

(PhysOrg.com) -- Hi3G Access, a Swedish-based phone company, has developed a video chat system that allows users to shuffle images on the screen with their hands. The system, which you can see in the video below, is known as 3LiveShop. 3LiveShop is a Flash-based multitouch system that is, at the current moment, being used as a sales tool for Hi3G Access.

In order to create this tool Hi3G Access collaborated with a Stockholm-based production company known as B-Reel. The setup is very similar to a Skype chat, in which you are able to see a smaller image of yourself in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

The system is unique, because it allows for the video chat to be shown at a lower resolution, while still images can be shown at a higher resolution. This is achieved by the use of two different streams, one for the video and one for the still images.

The system is even tied into an e-commerce system. After having a chat with the sales person online, the customer can see a bill and add then add their new mobile phone, the products that Hi3G Access sells, and pay for it right then and there. The entire system is coded in Adobe Flash, which may be a choice that was made with larger scale distribution in mind, as Flash is a fairly common program.

The multitouch screens, which were also developed in conjunction with a company called Teenage Engineering, use a system of mirrors and high-end cameras to create the video feed for chat. There are currently only three of these workstations functioning in the world, but if the program is successful the company hopes to expand the program.

This begs only one question. If most of us shop online in order to avoid sales clerks, why would you want to video chat with one?