Photos: Life imitates 'Star Trek'

Here's a direct example of life imitating art. The Mark 1 TR-107 tricorder from Vital Technologies (top) was unveiled in 1996 as a real scientific device. It could monitor electromagnetic fields, weather, color and light. The company apparently made 10,000 of them before going out of business.

Vital's product was modeled on the tricorders used in the "Star Trek" series (below).

Photo by CNET.com