Forget R2-D2 and meet 20Q. He has several significant benefits over the droid: he sits on your tabletop. He has a display in plain English. He isn't storing a message for Obi Wan Kenobi. And, most notably, he can actually read your mind.

Well, he can actually read your mind with the help of 20 ever-so-clever questions (to which you can answer from a set of pre-defined responses) allied to an even cleverer electronic brain packed with stupefyingly intelligent deductive algorithms.

A gadget that knows exactly what's on one's mind? Now that's what we call the appliance of science. Read on to discover how to interface with 20Q.

Start by thinking of an object - any object. Animal, vegetable, mineral and more. Then keep it a secret and let 20Q loose on the problem. He'll begin by asking you quickfire questions, all projected on his domed display device. One can answer "yes", "no", "sometimes" or "don't know" to each. Then, with amazing accuracy, he'll guess the object you've imagined. Just do be prepared to be flabbergasted, for his powers of intuition are truly amazing.

Styled in futuristic white and blue, with a sleek control surface, 20Q is more Space 1999 than Blankety Blank. Which is probably just as well, all things considered.