Patent ID: 7577588

Claim:
A method for providing interactive product information to a consumer comprising: (a) storing product data relating to the product in a product database; (b) transmitting the product data to a consumer computer operated by the consumer, wherein at least some of the product data is displayed on the consumer computer by consumer client software; (c) transmitting the product data to an attendant computer operated by an attendant, wherein at least some of the product data is displayed on the attendant computer by attendant client software, the product data displayed on the attendant computer corresponding to the product data displayed on the consumer computer; (d) establishing an interactive communication link between the consumer computer and the attendant computer for allowing the consumer and the attendant to communicate interactively; and (e) synchronizing the display of at least some of the product data on a controlling computer with the display of corresponding product data on a viewing computer, wherein the controlling computer is one of the attendant computer or the consumer computer and the viewing computer is the other one of the attendant computer or the consumer computer; and wherein (e) includes: at the controlling computer, generating one or more Update Messages that describe a manipulation of the display of the at least some of the product data on the controlling computer; transmitting a corresponding one or more Update Messages to the viewing computer; and at the viewing computer, generating a corresponding manipulation of the display of the corresponding product data in response to the corresponding one or more Update Messages.