Available exclusively from Hammacher Schlemmer and featured on the cover of the company's Late Winter catalog, the "product of the future" is available today. Price is $14,999.00.

Speeding a single rider across land on a cushion of air, the Hover Scooter may be the next best thing to a personal flying carpet. Gentle lift from a gasoline engine-powered fan raises it about an inch and a half off the ground, and a stream of air is exhausted through a vent in the back to provide light forward thrust, just like a hovercraft.

Unlike a hovercraft, however, the Hover Scooter has a drive wheel that can be selectively employed for acceleration and directional control, as well as friction devices for steering and stopping. The basics of riding can be learned in about five minutes-steering is largely a matter of shifting body weight-and the Hover Scooter can be operated on almost any level, solid surface such as asphalt, concrete, or well-groomed grass. Once the basics are mastered, the tricks that can be performed are almost limitless-360-degree spins, sliding stops and turns, zigzag movements, and time trials around tight tracks.

The Hover Scooter was the hit of the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where it was surrounded by admiring crowds, and it has been previewed on the Today Show and CNN Headline News.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the inventor of the Hover Scooter was inspired by the movie "Back to the Future". According to William Booth, president of Hammacher Schlemmer, "Everybody who's seen the Hover Scooter wants to ride it. I've ridden it myself, and it's more exciting than you can imagine."

The Hover Scooter is produced by International Robotics, Inc., a 30-year-old research and development group that is headquartered in New York and composed of a global network of scientists, physicists, engineers, inventors, futurists, designers, and techno-artists.

Although Hammacher Schlemmer was founded in 1848 and is the oldest catalog company in America, it has a well-deserved reputation for being the first to introduce unusual, pioneering products- among them, the world's first flat-panel TV and the world's first robotic lawnmower. The company continues its tradition of innovative offerings through its catalog, retail stores in New York and Chicago, and web site (www.hammacher.com).