IT contractors could see a rise in work if interactive window shopping catches on in the UK.

One such interactive shop window exists in Germany, enabled by the development of a special 3D camera system by the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin, Germany.

The shop window allows potential buyers on the outside of the shop to point to an item to see it appear on a display and then to rotate and zoom to see every detail.

"Interactive shopping has been standard operating procedure in the web for a long time. Now, we're putting this technology into pedestrian passageways and shopping centers with the entire unit behind the window," says Paul Chojecki, one of the scientists from the institute.

This comes after Andy Mulcahy, communications executive for IMRG said that retailers must use the latest technology if they want to keep customers happy.