F E T I S H    Issue 2.11 - November 1996
Edited by Tom Loosemore & James Flint



  Don-a-Darth

Though Japan doesn't celebrate Halloween, plenty of Japanese don costumes for private parties or to live out their fantasies. Recently, the selection of different outfits has improved, but it's still difficult to find a great getup. With this Darth Vader mask in place, though, you'll always be respected by Star Wars fans. The sci-fi headdress morphs your voice into a Vader-like rasp and a black cape perfects the look.

Darth Vader Power Talker: £19.99. Toy Options: (0161) 633 9800.

  Marble Miracle

Mice are dangerous little critters. They can wreak havoc with your posture, lock up your shoulders and tatter the tendons in your wrist. The Logitech TrackMan Marble turns the mouse inside out and attaches it firmly to your desk. The Marble electronic sensing technology uses advanced optics and neural net logic to detect movements of the trackball, eliminating traditional problems with dust and accumulated grime.

TrackMan Marble: £59. Logitech: (01344) 894 300.

  Headgear

Never mind Windows, the brain may be our next computer interface. IBVA Technologies has developed the Interactive Brainwave Visual Analyzer, a wireless headband transmitter that dispatches brainwaves to a receiver hooked to your PC. While you could spend hours just poring over charts of your brainwaves, you can also program the IBVA to control MIDI players, computers and almost any other electronically addressable device.

IBVA One Channel System: US$1,295. IBVA Technologies Inc.: +1 (212) 754 4282, on the Web at www.opendoor.com/Pagoda/IBVA.html.

  Stand Up Scooters

Remember when owning a scooter was a shortcut to playground ridicule? No longer. Imported from New York by ScooterShack, the Phantom X is a motorised stand-up scooter boasting a 25cc air-cooled engine, a top speed of 25mph and fuel consumption of 100 miles to the gallon. What's more, a blind spot in the law means that the Phantom X can be driven anywhere without a licence or special insurance. Perfect for ghosting through the traffic.

Phantom X: £650 to £900. ScooterShack: (0116) 272 0927.

  Music and Movement

A long train journey is the perfect place to write music: rails give rhythm, landscape provides inspiration and boredom lends motivation. Weighing in at a mere 1.5lbs and running off six AA batteries, the cute new Roland PMA-5 is a travelling musician's dream. Packed to the gills with 306 instruments, 16 drum kits and a 21,000-note eight-track sequencer, the PMA-5 allows you to satisfy your creative urges whenever, or wherever, they strike.

Roland PMA-5: £445, Roland (UK): (01792) 702 701.

  Seeing Quadruple

We may have virtual reality these days, but we still have no useful electronic 3D displays. Sanyo to the rescue. The 2D-3D Video Display is an autostereoscopic LCD panel employing a four-lens lenticular display. Using four lenses to project the image gives a wider viewing range and helps maintain the dimensional illusion if the viewer moves his or her head. While these displays have limited application today, we may see them everywhere in the future.

2D-3D Video Display: price not yet available. Sanyo Fisher Corp.: +1 (818) 998 7322, +81 (3) 3837 6206.

  Native Guide

Ever wished for a copy of Autoroute in your car? PCs are a rare commodity in most family motors, but the Philips Routefinder electronic route planner is a more than adequate replacement. As well as containing comprehensive travel and route guidance information on over 38,000 UK destinations, it calculates your fuel consumption too, so you can discover exactly where you're going to run out of petrol. The Routefinder comes in an elegant pseudo-walnut finish for those who travel in style, and a black and red camouflage finish for those who, er, don't.

Routefinder: £229.99. Philips: (0800) 215 315.

  Sure Shot

So far, digital cameras have come in just two flavours; cheap 'n' nasty or exorbitant 'n' excellent. Polaroid has gone for the middle ground with its new PDC-2000. Capable of taking 24-bit colour images at a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels, the PDC-2000 will satisfy all but the most discerning camera-geek, while autofocus and automatic exposure and flash mean it's still a doddle for dumbos to operate.

PDC-2000: £2,650 ex VAT. Polaroid: (01582) 632 000.