THE brave new world of incredible technology and the shrinking divide between humans and machines is showcased in an exhibition.

Our Cyborg Future? at Newcastle's Discovery Museum includes a game where players spell letters out on a computer using only thought.

There are also hearing aids that look like jewellery and clothes that monitor your body during exercise.

Opening from today until October 27, exhibits also include the most cutting-edge technology in prosthetic limbs, a prototype designer dress created by Hussein Chalayan that moves and changes shape while it is worn, and a top with the technology to give the wearer a "hug".

The top allows its owner to send an electronic message to someone wearing a similar top, constricting the fabric to form a virtual hug.

Several pieces allow visitors to interact with and experience the new technology for themselves.

One exhibit is a machine that can read brain waves, allowing the user to spell words out on a computer using only their mind.

Elsewhere in the exhibition, visitors will find the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (Bear), made by Vecna Robotics.

For some time, modern robotic designers have been exploring how robots could be used in hazardous environments such as under enemy fire, a nuclear reactor core, a toxic chemical spill or inside a structurally dangerous building after an earthquake.

The Bear, one of the most striking exhibits, is equally capable of lifting and transporting items, as well as going into disaster areas, natural or man-made, searching for and rescuing casualties.

It is extremely agile, can balance well and has a high-strength upper body in humanoid form to carry victims.

The exhibition will also take in venues outside the Discovery Museum, and exhibits will appear in the Centre for Life and Life Square, in Newcastle. A highlight will be the European premiere, on October 9, of an exhibit called Walking Head by Australian performance artist Stelarc.

The free exhibition is part of Designs of the Time 2007, a national event hosted by the North-East.

The museum is open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, and 2pm to 5pm on Sundays.