Tech show needs a spark

By John Hill on November 4, 2008 10:31 AM |

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THEY say you can't take it with you. Until then there's always room in life for a gadget.

But the average self-respecting gadget-lover doesn't just want any old tat. They want something that drops their jaw, sets their tongue wagging, and stays gripped in their hand until the undertaker has to remove it with a light-up bottle opener.

So could the Stuff Live exhibition hypnotise an Excel crowd into wandering home with armfuls of things to cram into their spare rooms?

Leading magazines "Stuff" and "What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision" unloaded a truckload of their favourite gear in Royal Docks over the weekend. But admittedly much of it fell into the "Look, but don't touch" category.

There was a Vectrix-i electric maxi scooter featuring integrated iPod technology, a very shiny racing car, a closely-guarded £7,500 hovering acrylic chair and a pair of curvy aluminium speakers priced at around £87,000. Cashpoint's just down the hall if you're interested, sir.

Exhibitors were showing off a self-tuning Gibson robotic guitar on the main stage every two hours, and offering punters the luxuries of the latest relaxation chairs. There was also the chance to play Mindball, a device which challenged you to reduce your brainwave patterns in order to move a ball across a pad.

All in all, the tour of the weekend show probably occupied about an hour. But since many had already paid £20 for a ticket, they were keen to wave their chequebooks at something.

That "something" could well have been Archos' range of personal media players, which featured high-res touch screen technology. Or it could have been Q London's 3D video eyewear, which offered you the chance to look like Geordi LaForge from Star Trek while watching the latest movies from your media player.

But for the price, visitors need a little more to get their mitts on, and many weren't happy with the dominance of speakers, cables and functional items. Excel is a tough hall to fill for a new arrival, but Stuff Live needs to add a little more wonder and wizardry to get a foothold in its new home.