The high-tech research labs are churning out wonderful technology at an increasingly faster pace. Some of them are on the market, some are being tested, while others may never make it to the market. They range from the ordinary tweaking of an item already on the market to the outlandish.

What is one to think of the current debate going on about a brain-computer interface (BCI) which would read the brain's thought patterns and translate them into commands the computer could use to do the task required? The concept is not being debated by a bunch of couch potatoes too lazy to get up and click their mouses. These researchers see practical uses for paralysed and disabled people who have little or no ability to move.

One group of researchers believes they can get a computer to read an "evoked response'', in which a person looks at some symbol or letter. Sensors record the response and send a signal to the computer, which then does the task associated with the symbol.

The other more blunt method is to read brain wave intensity or frequency using a modified electroencephalograph (EEG), the machine used in hospitals to check whether you're still there or not.

Vox Modese has invented his Brain-wave Visual Analyser (IBVA) along the EEG line. It consists of a headband, a transmitter and a receiver linked to a computer. The headband holds sensors to monitor the brain activity. Different brain waves lead to different commands to the computer.

The problem is the technology needs a little fine tuning. Seems no one can control their brain waves to the sophistication needed to do a lot of different tasks. Mr. Modese is working on developing a line of house furniture that can be controlled by brain activity.

Other products on the way or here already are: A $350 virtual reality headset that being launched in Japan. It has a wider field of view than its rivals, which were more expensive. Sega, Nintendo and Hasbro lost tens of millions of dollars developing games and headsets for the same market. Immersive virtual reality, as such devices are called, still lacks the "killer application'' to make it invaluable to the masses according to sceptical analysts; At Gateway Systems Ltd. on Queen St. you can check out the Destination personal computer with a 31-inch monitor. The basic model is powered by a 133 megahertz Pentium chip, while the executive model has the Pentium Pro 200 megahertz processor and Harman Kardon sound system; Motorola Inc. has the palm-sized StarTac cellular phone on the market. It's the smallest currently available and comes packaged like a piece of jewellery.

StarTac comes with a chain to wear like a necklace or a clip for the belt. It can also be pinned on the lapel of a jacket like a broach. It's certainly an improvement on Dick Tracy's cartoon wrist watch; One of the hottest new items in the computer market is the palm held model.

The palmtop computers, called HPCs, are being made by Packard Bell NEC Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Philips Electronics NV and others. The PalmPilot by 3Com Corp., has its computing crammed into a three-by-five inch box. A stylus and a system of shorthand are used for writing. One fan told me once you get used to using the shorthand it's a nifty tool for jotting down things. The Hewlett-Packard 320LX has a tiny keyboard embedded in it for touch-typing. The Philips' Velo has a keyboard and a built in modem. The Psion Series 5 is similar to the others but without the modem; IBM has developed a gadget that's just right for the suits who get sent off to conferences. Two businessmen shake hands to complete a circuit that exchanges personal information between them. They must each carry a card-sized transmitter and receiver to transfer the information to their computers. No more need for those pesky cards bulging out of your wallet.

There are a lot more products on the make than I can describe in one column.

If you spot any, or perhaps own some astounding technology I can pass on to readers you can contact me at the phone numbers below.

*** Author John Updike has started a writing contest on the Internet. He began a 44-day contest -- which ends September 12 -- by penning the first paragraph of a mystery story. Readers have continued the story by e-mailing in their versions of what they determine comes next. The reader whose version is chosen to continue the story on each day of the contest receives $1,000. There's also a $100,000 lottery prize for anyone who competes.

"Murder Makes the Magazine'' tracks the adventures of Tasso Polk, an employee of The Magazine who Mr. Updike makes step of the elevator "onto the olive tiles of the nineteenth floor only lightly nagged by a sense of something wrong.'' Who said this was literature? Have fun at the amazon.com site.

Tech Tattle is a weekly column which focuses on technological developments and computer industry issues. If you have any ideas for topics, please telephone 295-5881, ext. 241, or at home 238-3854.