Virtual reality is their favorite product, they say, because "it's one of those things you don't find in regular stores."

But virtual reality games aren't only for kids. After a Valentine's Day dinner in the Square last night, Michael T. Spofford and his wife, Dianne, came into Cybersmith when they saw VR Skiing in the window.

"We literally fell into it," said Dianne, a resident of Saugus.

Having left their two children at home with a babysitter, Mike and Dianne began with virtual skiing. Then they strapped into "Zone Hunter," a virtual shoot-'em-up that allows two players to interact in cyberspace.

Interaction is a buzzword at Cybersmith. Marshall Smith, the store's founder and the man behind Booksmith, Videosmith and Learningsmith, originally wanted to call his newest brainchild "Interactivity-smith," until his son talked him out of it, employees say.

Although interaction was dropped from the name, it remains in the spirit of Cybersmith, Ryherd says.

Annie Lareau and Rachel S. Garber, graduate students at the Harvard School of Education, agree.

"It's one of the few places where you see people interacting together in front of the computer," Garber says. She and Lareau explored a showcase of Van Gogh's paintings titled "Starry Night"--one of Cybersmith's 50 CD ROM titles.

Ryherd says that it is the spirit of this kind of interaction which made Cybersmith the Improper Bostonian's 1995 pick for "the best place for a first date."

John and Kelly--who themselves are there on a date--suggest a different reason for Cybersmith's popularity with first-daters.

"You don't have to talk to each other," Kelly says.

Although employees stress that customers with no computer experience can feel comfortable at Cybersmith, the store draws computer wonks, too.

Rhonda M. Johnson, a Somerville entrepreneur, visits Cybersmith several times each week. She says she is creating a page on the World Wide Web to test public response to an idea for a company.

Her company, called "Way Out Corp," would use the Internet to coordinate social organizations seeking resources with private corporations.

Anthony A. Schinella of Cambridge, who hosts "The Tony Schinella Show" on the Tufts University radio station WMFO, has visited Cybersmith regularly since its opening.

Schinella says he comes to check his e-mail during his lunch hour. He also uses "Gopher" to check facts for his talk show.

"I'm not Rush Limbaugh," Schinella says. "I like to get the exact numbers."

These services, however, can be expensive. Rates for the different services vary from 20 cents per minute for Internet access to a five dollar fee for a virtual reality "experience."

"You can spend a lot of money here," warns Tufts student Jeffrey T. Steiner