Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Thu, May 14 1992 Date: Thu, 14 May 92 05:42:12 EDT Message-ID: 05-14 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update May 14, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network REALITY FIELD POISED FOR GROWTH: Diversions like those described in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel "Brave New World" are only an entrepreneur away from the general public, according to market research company FIND:SVP. FIND has estimated the market for virtual reality will increase from $5 million in 1991 to $575 million in 1999. That's a compound annual growth rate of 81%. (For more, see special Reality package below.) RECENT GRADS OUT OF WORK: Amid all the talk of downward mobility among older, experienced workers in this economy, complaints of younger, college-educated workers can get overlooked. Among all 20-to-24-year-olds, the jobless rate was 10.9% in April, second only to the 16-to-19 age group. And the pay is declining. Among those one to five years out of school, average pay last year was $11.34, vs. $12.46 in 1973. SERVICE COMPANIES BOOST INCOME: Recession-battered service companies managed to boost net income last year almost 10%, the first gain in three years, Fortune magazine says in its June 1 issue. The issue, out Monday, lists Fortune's 500 largest service companies. The line between service and industrial companies is fuzzy, depending on the source of most of a company's revenue. PLAY IT AGAIN, BATMAN: Hollywood is counting on moviegoers to plunk down summer dollars for continuing peeks into the lives of characters they've already met. Among summer would-be blockbusters: "Batman Returns"; "Alien3"; and "Honey I Blew Up the Kid." "Patriot Games" isn't a sequel, says producer Mace Neufeld. It's a "franchise," the second movie in novelist Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan spy series. SEQUELS HAVE BUILT-IN TAKE: Actress Rene Russo, in "Lethal Weapon 3," isn't going to bite the hand that's feeding her. "We have the option to go see sequels or not, people love it. ... There is a fear in Hollywood that if it hasn't been tested, ... God forbid." Sequels have a huge built-in audience, demonstrated by the box office take of "Lethal Weapon" and "Alien" sequels. And remember marketing opportunities. DESIGN WORLD BUZZING OVER BEES: The bee is queen of the design world once again. Originally popular in the 19th century when Napoleon chose them as his personal symbol, bees seem to be swarming on everything from wallpaper to jewelry. "It's a very classical look," says Peggy Kennedy of House Beautiful. "Bees are a nice design alternative to florals." LET'S VISIT A NATIONAL PARK: Record crowds are expected again this year in the USA's national parks system. The projection: 59.4 million visitors, about 2 million more than last year's record for the 50 national parks. Overall, including national seashores, historic monuments, etc.: 276 million visitors, 10 million more than a year ago. Calls are up 30% a week, says Audre LaVay of Mistix campsite reservations. THAT SEXY, UH, ARMPIT: There's a new definition of sex appeal, according to the June issue of Mademoiselle. What the magazine defines as the Oh! zones include the eyelids, "so sensitive to the touch"; the nape of the neck; under the arm, an "elegant asseblage of muscle and sinew"; the lower back; and the back of the knee, "crying out to be loved." TEAR IT AND WEAR IT: Don't jettison those stockings with the run or the jeans with the embarrassing tear. The June Vogue reports that clothing that looks "as if they've been nuked" are being seen on the runways in what's being called "la mode destroy." Designer Karl Lagerfeld calls the look "sophisticated destruction," likening it to the stylized fake ruins in 18th-century landscape paintings. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON REALITY: MOST THINK OF COMPUTER GAMES: Most consumers aware of virtual reality see it primarily in terms of advancing the video-game field, reports market research group FIND:SVP, who predicts the field of virtal reality will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 81%. There are a variety of potential commercial uses for virtual reality, also known as artificial reality and cyberspace. MEDICINE COULD BE AIDED: A study by FIND:SVP projects six major fields of development for virtual reality. They are: Robotics, with virtual reality-based telerobotic systems for use in handling of hazardous waste and bombs; computer-aided design; teleconferencing; training and education; medical imaging; and biochemistry. POSSIBILITIES NOT YET IMAGINED: "Predictions are always subject to the deja-vu-all-over-again phenomenon," says Peter J. Allen of FIND. A new technology "seldom (picks up) where an old one left off." Allen adds that "virtual reality has commercial possibilities in areas that simply don't exist at the moment." (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM