The 99th Annual National Retail Federation Convention & Expo wrapped up last week in New York City. As in previous years, the show floor was divided into a number of themed pavilions — a dedicated Customer Experience area; a space devoted to all things green; and an "Innovation Station" that, among other things, utilized real-time polling and giant projection screens to find out what was on the minds of attendees.

Here are some of the highlights from this year's show floor:

The Innovation Station

Fashionista brings a virtual dressing room experience to online shopping. Shoppers can hold up and "size" clothing choices in front of their computers via Zugata's augmented reality software. Then they can share their favorites on social media networks with a virtual swipe of a button. RichRelevance's algorithm-based recommendation technology generates clothing suggestions for shoppers based on what they've already picked out. Demoed at upscale online shopping platform Tobi.com, expect to see the technology on more retailer sites in 2010.

IBM's CrossView concept was a great pull at the NRF's Innovation Station. It helps aggregate a buyer's history across channels for merchants to help provide a more 360-degree experience for customer. Marketing manager Leila Ashley says the solution "eliminates the traditional silos that typically exist between the storefront, call center and Web site." For example, the tool smoothes the process of call center ordering, helping an operator know the customer's history and direct them where to pick up wares in person.

IBM Cisco Mobile Concierge empowers customers with a more personalized experience. Once a smart phone holder opts in, retailers can offer them promotions based on their shopping history. The technology also allows customers to chat with an expert at another store at a moment's notice. It's formatted for the iPhone but would work on any smart mobile device.

The Customer Experience Pavilion

GestureTek, the world leader in gesture-based computer control, debuted The Cube solution at the NRF show. The Cube integrates software and projection to bring the cost of interactive floor displays dramatically down (from $100,000 to $12,000, roughly), so expect to see more in stores this year. Cubes will be huge for "digital playgrounds," where kids can be entertained while mom and dad shop without worrying their child is getting into something.

Placii shopping software "makes shopping fun again" with its new virtual 3D store renderings that allow customers to interact with stores via online shopping like never before. Participants can chat with employee avatars and see close-ups of merchandise. The interface is geared toward a female's shopping experience, with real-scale models of stores that a shopper's avatar can explore. It takes two to three weeks to fully render and replicate a store in the program, which might have the downside of not-so-new inventory updates.

Swagg's spokespeople deem the concept a "lifestyle program" that's unveiling before the 2010 holiday shopping season, but we know an app when we see one. Currently in its branding phase, the company is in the process of securing details and participating retailers. Whatever it ends up being, it's geared toward 25 – 35 year-olds, and will offer at-a-glance convenience: Bank card balances, loyalty info, gift cards (which can also be virtually swapped) and the latest coupons from brands users have opted into.

Radical Computing (Retail Path Networks) showcased the evolution of digital signage, which uses a variety of devices to trigger signage based on the person that's there, whether from their iPhone data, how long a space has been vacant, what they've picked up, etc. The newest thing here is "content creation," wherein the system pulls from a very large set of templates to create a message based on cues.

The Green Pavilion

Mintra was pushing its new 80-percent sugarcane/20 percent post-consumer waste paper, a ware increasingly endearing to green-savvy costumers. Boulder-based Blue Plant Group, which also works with biodegradable cutlery companies for QSR restaurants, is the supplier.

TransactionTree allows retailers to offer consumers the choice of e-mailed receipts. There's also a marketing template deployed with that virtual trail, with a supposed 60 percent click-thru rate. The company has paired with Intuit for customers to find lost receipts online.

Elsewhere on the floor

Google is making it easier for consumers to buy their favorite products online by pushing individual retailers to have Google commerce search on their sites. Companies can tap into Google's relevancy and ensure their products are on Google.com. Birkenstock has already bought into the two-month-old offering.

Nanonation shared space with Dell, where it debuted its new FrameWorks DS digital signage software package. A remarkably easy-to-use product, FrameWorks brings drag-and-drop simplicity to content management and scheduling. Dell executives are marketing it in a bundle with a new, small-form-factor PC.

Source Technologies' newest developments in digital signage include 7.5-inch, 12-inch and 19-inch monitors. The newest application is automated layaway, which the company says is coming back. New automated layaway kiosks allow customers to register layaway products for automatic payments — without ever having talked to a human being about the transaction.

Ikan's scanning device was really for home shoppers and cooks with limited retail tie-in, until recently: The first incarnation merely scanned people's groceries to generate a list that could be sent to local grocers that deliver, like New York-based D'Agostino. The second generation has just debuted, and generates promotions for scanned materials. Coupons can be printed directly from it.

Motorola just announced a new smart phone-based loyalty program that they're automating for retailers and consumer convenience. The big brand is not branded on this solution; rather, they develop it end-to-end for opted-in stores. Customers will now be able to store loyalty program info in their mobile devices rather than keep track of cards. Kerr Drug will be the first program adopter in about five weeks.

James Bickers contributed to this article.