January 19, 2000
Web posted at: 2:27 a.m. EST (0727 GMT)

CHICAGO (CNN) -- From smart microwaves to silly cat litter boxes, the thousands of exhibitors at Chicago's giant housewares show seemed to have it all.

The booming economy has helped spawn everything from a pen that massages to a gun that shoots cookies to tattoos for your hair.

GALLERY The latest in housewares...    VIDEO CNN's Jeff Flock points out highlights of the housewares show. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARDS House of the future? Gadget fever

"The consumer is so stressed out and looking for an escape from everyday life that they are looking toward the home as a refuge," said Lisa Case Weiss of the International Housewares Show.

Houseware marketers also think consumers may be looking for a smart home. Next year. Sunbeam will market an alarm clock that turns on the coffee pot, turns off the electric blanket, even hears the smoke alarm when you don't.

"It goes off, wakes you up, shows an icon that shows you a smoke alarm has gone off and shows you (in) which room of the house the smoke alarm has gone off," said John Hamann, president of Thalia Products.

Sharp Electronics' Patti Smith shows off the company's cooking-Internet connection: "This cookbox is what ties the Internet to the microwave," she explains. The microwave downloads recipes and then tells you how to make dinner.

"The difference in Sharp's product is it's the only one on today's market," she says. For now, it's only offered in Japan.

But available here and now: The Vertissere Plus roasts your chicken vertically -- better juice flow, they say. Hairprints tattoos magically bond to your hair, and the Massage Pen writes notes and erases stress.

"You can be sitting in a sales meeting and not really give it away that you are massaging your temples for a little bit of enjoyment, " said David Spinda of Medisana USA Inc.

There is the cookie gun that pumps out perfect cookies almost too easily.

The "Dirtlifter" says it's the only hot home rug steamer.

The Bath Mat massager shoots bubbles through a mat at the bottom of the tub for a kinder, gentler spa.

The brother-sister team of Patrick and Jamie McNaughton offer Soapy Sole, a foot-shaped, bristled device that suctions to the bath and allows the pregnant or infirm to wash their feet without bending over.

"We look at what's going on, you know, trends, and wellness is one of them," said Jamie McNaughton.

The Breath Alert and Fit Scan from Tokyo-based Tanita Corporation are two devices about the size of a tongue depressor, one of which measures how bad your breath is and the other your body fat.

"There's a humongous void in understanding the importance of body fat, " Tanita spokesman Jeff Kahn said.

Do we need all this? Maybe not. But consider some of new inventions of the early 20th century:

The hair dryer. The alarm clock. The electric toaster. The electric iron.

Who knows which of today's luxuries will be tomorrow's can't-live-withouts?

Chicago Bureau Chief Jeff Flock and Reuters contributed to this report.