Now that's different...
Mounted on a funny-looking ski and shock absorber, the flat-bottomed boat lightly skims the surface of the water for an ultrasmooth ride. Side hulls and an aerodynamic design help keep the thing steady while you zip over waves at speeds of up to 80 m.p.h. Price- $60,000
2nd: The RoboKaddy
If you love to golf but don't like lugging your clubs around, the remote-controlled RoboKaddy Titanium may be just what you need. Sure, you could hire a flesh-and-blood caddy to tote your clubs, but do you really want someone snickering at you every time you miss an easy putt? With the RoboKaddy, you just point the remote at the unit's antenna to get it rolling along at up to seven miles per hour. RoboKaddy isn't the only remote-controlled caddy that will hold all your clubs, but it is the only one that can go in reverse and collapse to fit neatly in the trunk of your car. You might break a sweat lifting it, however, since it weighs about 50 lbs. with its battery.
Price- $1,295
Need a helping hand to lift heavy objects around the house or yard? The Power Assist Suit, developed by a professor at the Kanagawa Institute of Technology in Japan, is a computer-controlled system that uses air pressure to augment your strength. In tests, a 100-lb. woman wearing one was able to lift a 150-lb. man. As you bend your arms and legs to start lifting, sensors on the suit detect which muscles are being used and activate a battery-powered air pump, which in turn inflates a series of air bags on the suit. As the bags inflate, they provide added support for your back, arms and legs.
Price- $15,000 to $20,000
Want to add some pizazz to your aquarium? A Taiwanese scientist has devised a way to make otherwise colorless fish glow neon green in the dark. Professor H.J. Tsai at National Taiwan University works this biological magic by injecting a protein extracted from jellyfish into the fertilized eggs of rice fish. He also uses a protein from coral to make fish glow a vibrant reddish pink. Opponents of genetic engineering fear that these creatures could crossbreed with wild species, creating glowing schools of Frankenfish. To keep them from spreading their shining DNA, the distributor, Taikong International, sterilizes them all.
Price- $7.50 each
5th: Dog Diaper
The fully disposable Dog Diaper has enormous market potential for the $15 billion a year pet industry (USA) in both retail and veterinarian markets. It offers mass merchandising and repeat business. The approximate estimated retail price for a pack of 24 disposable dog diapers is US$3.98. Since dogs defecate 3 or 4 times a day and urinate 10-12 times a day (for puppies, this is more frequent), the Dog Diaper would be used at least 3 times a day by adult dogs. Assuming that the product is used by only 1% of the 30 million US dogs that populate urban and suburban areas (the total dog population estimated by Predicast in 1990 for 1995 was 74 million), the yearly demand for the Dog Diaper would be around 328 million diapers.
