Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends,americast.usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Wed, Sep 30 1992 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 04:52:36 EDT Message-ID: 09-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update Sept. 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ROBOTS IN HEALTH-CARE FUTURE: HANC (Home Assisted Nursing Care), a user-friendly home-care robot can check a patient's temperature, pulse and blood pressure and reminds patients to take their medicine. It also alerts a 24-hour central monitoring system if read-outs cause alarm. Robots are quickly becoming a fact of life in today's health-care system, says a recent edition of Modern Healthcare magazine. (For more, see special Robots package below.) DRACULA FASHION COMING OUT: Dracula's biting fashion sense may drive people batty this fall. Francis Ford Coppola's revamping of the legend in the film "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (out in November) gives the world a new, more fashion-conscious Count. The costumes will be featured in upcoming issues of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Mirabella, and in the book "Bram Stoker's Dracula: The Film and the Legend," by Francis Ford Coppola and James V. Hart (Newmarket Press, $24.95). MENSWEAR FOR WOMEN TAKING OFF: The masculine version of women's garter belt and stockings - knee garters and knee socks - are taking off. And in a strange new twist of trends, women fond of the femenswear trend (vests, ties, pinstripe suits) are now sporting men's socks and suspenders. "It's a fashion statement and a romantic thing," says Anneliese Estrada, Out magazine fashion editor. HOLES ARE STRETCHING IT: First came pierced ears. Then pierced noses. Now the modern tribal ritual has a new twist. The report from deep in the trend jungles of Los Angeles: The coolest kids are piercing holes in their ears then stretching and enlarging the holes. WALDO WEAR IS EVERYWHERE: "Where's Waldo?" is the question of the '90s. The new answer is: On ties. Schreter Neckwear's collection of Where's Waldo ties - featuring the lanky character in blue socks and candy-striped sweater and stocking cap - is selling like hotcakes. The ties sold out at Bloomingdale's earlier this year, and demand continues. The ties come in seven patterns. TIES HELP THE CHILDREN: Manhattan Menswear has come up with "Save the Children" ties. The three ties celebrate the non-profit organization's goal of funding self-help community development programs for poverty-stricken areas around the world. The styles feature renderings of children frolicking in a healthy environment; and vibrant drawings and finger paintings by children. SHOPPERS ON MALL TREK: Fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" will soon be able to shop in the starship. Portions of shopping malls across the USA are being designed to recreate the bridge, transporter room, holodeck and other parts of the famed starship. Visitors will be able to play games, and even eat and shop in the entertainment center. NEW AIRPORT PART OF TREND: Pittsburgh's 1950s-era airport is giving way Thursday to a sleek complex that furthers a trend toward moving people through airports faster but giving them a mall-like atmosphere when they have time to enjoy it. New or renovated airports in Portland, Ore., Atlanta, New York and Toronto also are among those adding mall-like amenities ranging from fast-food restaurants to upscale stories. BOOKLET OFFERS TAILORED TIPS: There's a free 22-page booklet put out by the arbiters of men's fashion, Brooks Brothers, to help people deal with the intricacies of tailored clothing, dress shirts, neckwear, footwear, hosiery and accessories. It even shows how to fold a pocket-square, quite a dying art. The free book is an offspring of one put out in the '30s. Look for it at all 50 Brooks Brothers in the U.S. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ROBOTS: SEVERAL ROBOTS IN DEVELOPMENT: Machines that dispense medicine, analyze blood and even help perform surgery are being developed, says Karen Petitte managing editor Modern Healthcare magazine. Robodoc is a computer system that prepares bone for hip-replacement surgery. The creation of Integrated Surgical Systems of Sacramento, Calif., is awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration. ROBOTS CAN SAVE MONEY: HANC (Home Assisted Nursing Care) is "about 3 1:2 feet high; he sort of looks like a small portable TV," says inventor Stephen Kaufman, chairman of Healthcare Services Corp., Northbrook, Ill., which hopes to have its talking robot on the market in 12 to 18 months. One big benefit: It could cost $1.25 an hour compared with a nurse's $90 an hour, he says. USA LAGGING BEHIND WITH ROBOTS: The USA is actually lumbering behind Canada and Europe in the development of robot health-care systems, says Petitte, who believes government regulations have slowed approval here. "I think it can be a benefit to patients, to physicians, hospital workers, nursing home workers. There are a variety of functions a robot can perform across the spectrum," she says. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (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